Dynamic Constrained Multicast Routing in WDM Networks: Blocking Probability, QoS and Traffic Engineering

The development of bandwidth-demanding IP multicast applications has made supporting multicasting in optical layer a favorite option. This article examines the dynamic behavior of optical layer multicasting in sparse splitting WDM networks. We proposed a routing algorithm incorporating the Member-only and shortest-widest approaches to achieve the objectives of Quality of Service (QoS) and traffic engineering in dynamic environment, assuming reasonable blocking probability. A Bottle-neck First-Fit wavelength assignment approach was introduced and applied. The study compared the simulation results of the proposed algorithm to that from the shortest-path based Member-only approach. It showed that the proposed algorithm balances traffic loads well, and accommodates more connection requests in low and medium loads. We further investigated the effects of limiting wavelength usage for each forest on overall blocking probability. Moreover, we formally proved that the algorithm can be easily extended to meet the bandwidth requirement.