The first generation of optical networks employed primarily static point-to-point WDM systems to provide increased network capacity. Optical networks using WDM are now widely deployed in carrier networks, particularly in long-haul networks. For the most part, these point-to-point WDM systems provide tens of wavelengths worth of capacity over a single fiber pair, with each wavelength operating a...

This work focuses on the Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem in all-optical DWDM networks with Sparse Wavelength Conversion (SWC) capabilities. By sparse wavelength conversion, we mean that nodes within the optical network domain might or might not support optical wavelength conversion. For these nodes that support optical wavelength conversion, the number of wavelength converters m...

Optical fiber communication has brought us a new Internet society. In Japan, FTTH (Fiber to the Home) networks, in which optical fibers are installed directly to users’ homes, have been so popular that the number of contractors for FTTH service has exceeded fifteen millions as of May 2010. “Optical fiber,” “light source,” and “photo detector” are said to be three key elements of optical fiber c...

Given the significant progress made and the continuing advances expected in the optical networking technology, it becomes attractive to build a future Optical Internet that natively supports bursty IP datagrams. Burst switching WDM optical networks are touted as suitable network architectures for future Optical Internet backbones. However, the lack of optical processing capabilities results in ...