NOMaD: an optical network optimisation, modelling and design toolset

An optical network optimisation, modelling and design toolset has been described, as well as its successful application to three optical network problems: network topology design, minimum network wavelength requirement design, and minimum cost wavelength allocation. Overall, the genetic-algorithm/heuristic hybrid approach appears to perform well in this domain, at least for the problem sizes attempted. Further work, as well as exploring the issues outlined above for the individual problems, should also address the issue of scalability. Additional possibilities include combining both topology and wavelength allocation into a single design process, and a re-implementation of NOMaD in Java to obtain the benefits of multi-threading, an integrated graphical user interface, and portability