Performance analysis of a limited number of wavelength converters in an optical switching node

In this letter, we present studies of an optical switching (OS) node utilizing a limited number of wavelength converters (WCs). The study stems from practical observation that WCs are expensive. Consequently, each output wavelength may not necessarily have its own WC and has to share a limited pool of WCs with other output wavelengths. In order to improve the utilization of the limited number of WCs, a share-per-fiber (SPF) mode is proposed for the OS node. Subsequently, a two-dimensional Markov chain model of SPF is presented to evaluate its performance. Numerical results are presented to verify the accuracy of the analytical model.