Blocking probability and fairness in two-rate Elastic Optical Networks

Routing and Spectrum Allocation (RSA) algorithms are used to compute both routing and spectrum allocation of connection demands in Elastic Optical Networks (EONs). A number of RSA algorithms have been proposed. Their performance is usually measured in terms of overall blocking probability. In this paper the authors pursue an additional performance indicator that is introduced to quantify the level of fairness (or unfairness) experienced by two types of demands, each type requiring a distinct spectrum bandwidth size. A new RSA algorithm is also proposed to jointly control blocking and fairness by partitioning the spectrum into dedicated and shared bands. Simulation results are used to estimate the trade-off between the blocking probability experienced by all demands and the level of fairness as it is achieved by a total of six RSA algorithms.