Data-centric networking using multiwavelength headers/labels in packet-over-WDM networks: A comparative study

In this paper, various issues related to packet transportation in dynamically reconfigurable networks are studied and techniques for transmitting the associated signaling are discussed. A novel transportation frame based on multisymbol coding is presented, its functionality is analyzed, and the various alternatives for transmitting multiwavelength label/headers are reviewed and benchmarked. A physical layer performance comparison between two multiwavelength schemes, i.e., the bit-parallel and the multilevel (M-ary) coded, is carried out using analytic modeling as well as simulation tools. It is shown that the multilevel coding is an interesting solution, particularly in a wide-area network environment deploying line rates higher than 10 Gb/s.