Probabilistic path computation and frequency assignment to mitigate spectral fragmentation in elastic optical networks

Abstract

Management of spectrum fragmentation in optical transport networks typically requires after the fact defragmentation. This paper proposes a probabilistic approach that mitigates the creation of fragmentation by reducing spectral waste and increasing the expected number of allowable additional lightpaths. The proposed approach is simulated and compared against both first fit as well as fragmentation aware spectrum assignment methods, and the comparison results are provided.