Multicasting and groupcasting with physical layer constraints in metropolitan area networks with mesh topologies

Next-generation optical networks are expected to support traffic that will be heterogeneous in nature with both unicast, as well as multicast/groupcast applications. Recent bandwidthintensive applications that are driving the use of optical multicasting include telepresence, grid computing, telemedicine, software and video distribution for residential customers, movie broadcasts, interactive distance learning and video training, and distributed games amongst others. In parallel to the emergence of high-bandwidth multicast applications, the trend is for next-generation mesh optical networks that are evolving from opaque to translucent, and eventually to transparent optical networks. These transparent networks are extremely desirable as they provide bit-rate, protocol, and modulation format transparency, thus providing better solutions in the implementation of the network architecture by minimizing the extra cost, power, and footprint associated with the additional transceivers present in an opaque architecture. These architectures must now also have the capability and build-in intelligence to efficiently support all types of traffic and all kinds of applications, including both unicast as well as multicast/groupcast applications that require either the entire or a fraction of the wavelength bandwidth. In telecommunications networks, it is also essential that services are provided in an uninterrupted manner, leveraging fault recovery techniques and intelligent switching nodes to protect the network against failures. Multicast applications that carry traffic to multiple destinations are even more susceptible to failures as a single failure can result in the loss of information destined to a large number of users. Thus, providing failure recovery techniques for the multicast applications is of paramount importance in next-generation optical networks. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate problems related to impairment-aware multicasting/groupcasting in metropolitan area mesh optical networks, when the physical layer impairments are also taken into consideration when designing and implementing the v Ta nia Pa n yio tou appropriate provisioning and protection techniques. The main contributions of this dissertation are in the design and implementation of provisioning and protection techniques for the impairment-aware support of multicast and groupcast applications in transparent optical networks. This dissertation fills an existing void in that area by formulating and developing efficient solutions for these problems in metropolitan area optical networks with mesh topologies. All techniques developed for wavelength routing, subrate grooming, and fault protection for multicast and groupcast applications in these networks were designed while taking into consideration the physical layer constraints, and by doing so they exhibited improved performance compared to all the rest of the previously developed techniques. This dissertation presents a complete treatment to the impairment-aware multicast and groupcast provisioning and fault recovery problem by investigating the physical layer system model, node architectures and network engineering, as well as designing and evaluating a large number of heuristic algorithms that can provide these network control functions in a simple and efficient manner. While this work focuses on metropolitan area networks, these methods and techniques can also be readily applicable to other types of networks as well, provided that the networkspecific physical layer impairments are accounted for in the physical layer system model. vi Ta nia Pa ay iot ou