Multi-rate and multi-hop hybrid optical networks with arbitrary topology

The advantage of designing high speed hybrid wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks - in which a tributary signal may be switched over a sequence of (multi-hop) optical circuits - is manifold. The optical-electrical-optical signal conversion that takes place at a few selected (intermediate) nodes allows tributary signals to be efficiently multiplexed by the electronics before they are transmitted on the optical circuits. It also mitigates the negative impact of fiber transmission impairments through 3R electronic regeneration of the signal. In addition, although limited, the transparency of the optical circuits enables multi-rate nodes to coexist in the same hybrid network architecture. The paper proposes an approach to designing cost-effective hybrid optical networks with arbitrary topology and multi-rate nodes, and demonstrates numerically the advantages of such a solution in the presence of both impairment-free and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) impaired fibers.