Designs for Wavelength Division Multiplexing Lightwave Networks with Tunable Transceivers

Abstract

The need of high speed networks, for applications incorporating high performance distributed computing, multimedia communication and real time network services, has provided the impetus for the study of optical networks. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) has been used widely for studying the throughput performance of optical networks. We studied WDM lightwave networks with tunable transceivers including designs for lightwave networks with limited tuning ranges for transceivers. Transmission schedules and virtual topology embeddings are needed to support high performance distributed computing. How to design the transmission schedule depends on how the virtual topology is embedded in the physical lightwave network. We developed general graph theoretic results and algorithms and using these built optimal embeddings and optimal transmission schedules for de Bruijn graphs and undirected de Bruijn graphs, assuming certain conditions on the network parameters. We proved our transmission schedules are optimal over all possible embeddings. Partitioned Optical Passive Stars(POPS) topology is a physical architecture to scale up local optical passive star networks. POPS data channel can be efficiently utilized for random permutation-based communication patterns. Reliability is important for such a scaled-up network. We analyzed the fault tolerant routing properties of POPs networks. We demonstrated some worst cases due to link errors and the lower bound for connectivity is obtained. Some sufficient approaches were proposed to detect and keep connectivity of the whole system. The current technology only allows the transceivers to be tunable in a small range, a fact ignored in previous studies. We focused on the design of WDM optical passive star networks with tunable transmitters of limited tuning range and fixed wavelength receivers. The limited tuning range has big effects on the maximum delay, the total number of wavelengths which can be used, and the topological embedding. We proposed efficient communication protocols for systems with limited tuning ranges. Different network topologies were analyzed in our study. The relationship between the total number of wavelengths which can be utilized and the embedded topology is established. The optimal embedding algorithms are given for the systems embedded with different virtual topologies.