Performance analysis of Robust WDM fast circuit-switched networks with token passing in control channel

WDM networks depend on predetermined, fixed wavelength channels, requiring highly stable lasers and tunable filters. Robust WDM networks, based on dynamically selected wavelengths, relax manufacturing and operating wavelength tolerance requirements leading to low-cost implementations. A node dynamically selects a currently unused wavelength for communication, and uses it for a limited period of time for communication with a destination, thus allowing the network to tolerate wavelength variation with time. A performance model is presented for Robust WDM networks in which the right to establish WDM connections is arbitrated periodically by a control channel based on token passing. Comparison with simulation results indicates the model’s ability to predict the network performance accurately. Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.