Techno-economic analysis of flexi-grid networks with all-optical add/drop capability

Thanks to recent advances in switching technology enabled by novel ultra-fine granularity filters, it is now possible to perform all-optical traffic grooming (AOTG) of low-rate signals over flexi-grid networks. To evaluate the potential benefits of the introduction of this new capability, a precise techno-economic analysis, taking into account the cost of the enabling transceivers and ROADMs, needs to be carried out. In this paper, we compare the potential economic benefits of the proposed AOTG-capable network to legacy solutions in a network planning scenario. The paper quantifies the spectrum and total equipment cost savings resulting from the use of AOTG, and assesses the profitability of the proposed solution.