Algorithm for shared path protection in elastic optical network based on spectrum partition

Abstract

We present a heuristic algorithm to address the optimization problem of routing and spectrum allocation, aimed at traffic protection and restoration in an elastic optical network. The algorithm searches for working and backup disjoint paths, using the shared path protection scheme. It divides the spectrum into two partitions and prioritizes slots in one of them for backup path traffic. The way the algorithm occupies slots of the working and backup paths resembles the behavior of two inverted stacks in which their slots are filled from the extremities toward the center. This scheme is effective in improving the blocking probability of connection requests, the spectrum utilization ratio, and the average size of slot groups. Comparison with reported algorithms shows good performance of the proposed approach.