Protocol enhancements for “greening” optical networks

The last decade has spurred a number of research efforts around energy efficiency in information and communication technologies (ICT). To reduce the energy consumed by optical transport networks, one option is to switch-off a certain number of optical systems according to the amount of transported traffic. Consequently, dynamic power management of optoelectronic devices and link sleep-mode approaches have been proposed; these capabilities quantitatively optimize the power requirements and the available bandwidth of the network as a whole. This paper presents enhancements embedded in Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS)-based protocols enabling power control in optical devices, and then analyzes the impact of controlling the daily energy consumption of optical switching equipment in the network. We also present ongoing activities in specific standardization working groups for “greening the network” along with their proposals to improve the energy efficiency of future optical networks.