Connection management algorithm for advance lightpath reservation in WDM networks

Advance reservation is a topic that is rarely discussed within the domain of wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks. However, for many emerging applications in the telecommunication and/or grid computing industries, a demand for a high bandwidth communication channel as well as a guarantee on resource availability certainly exists. Such applications include: remote surgery, remote experimentation with teleobservation capabilities, teleconferencing, and bulk transfers. In this paper, we present a new model for reserving advance lightpath requests in a centralized system. This model attempts to “migrate,” i.e., move previously reserved lightpaths to candidate wavelengths in order to lower the system’s blocking probability. We have tailored different lightpath migration algorithms to address two specific network objectives: 1) minimize the number of hops a new request traverses after migration, and 2) minimize the number of migrated lightpaths. In terms of blocking probability, the lightpath migration algorithms show a significant improvement over the original advance lightpath reservation model.