Advantages of IP over elastic optical networks using multi-flow transponders from cost and equipment count aspects.

To evaluate the cost efficiency of IP over elastic optical network architectures, we use a multi-layer network design scheme that covers network to node equipment level. An evaluation in a static traffic environment shows that the multi-flow optical transponder-based elastic optical network reduces total cost as well as equipment counts compared to other elastic network models based on fixed-rate, mixed-line-rate and bandwidth-variable transponders.