Performance Comparison of Dynamic Elastic Optical Networks with Optical Regeneration

Abstract

We have investigated optical regeneration issues and application in elastic optical networks that are capable of providing dynamically optical paths with flexible bandwidths. We have analyzed the impact of optical regeneration in elastic optical networks and clarified various usage scenarios. We have then evaluated and compared the performance, in terms of the overall blocking probability and the total accommodated traffic volume, of three possible network scenarios with regeneration capability including (i) no regeneration, (ii) 3R regeneration, and (iii) 4R regeneration for practical network topologies. Numerical simulation proved that deployment of optical regeneration devices can exploit elastic optical networking to enhance the network performance for provisioning dynamically bandwidth-flexible lightpath services. It is also demonstrated that using re-modulation function while regenerating optical signals (4R regeneration) can further improve the network performance. However, due to the high cost of optical regeneration devices, especially all-optical ones, and more functional regenerators, the trade-off between the performance enhancement and the necessary number of regenerating devices needs to be carefully considered.