One document matched: draft-bernstein-ccamp-wavelength-switched-02.txt

Differences from draft-bernstein-ccamp-wavelength-switched-01.txt


Network Working Group                                G. Bernstein (ed.) 
Internet Draft                                        Grotto Networking 
Intended status: Informational                             Y. Lee (ed.) 
Expires: April 2008                                              Huawei 
                                                         Wataru Imajuku 
                                                                    NTT 
 
                                                                        
                                    
                                    
                                                       October 25, 2007 
                                      
    Framework for GMPLS and PCE Control of Wavelength Switched Optical 
                                 Networks 
             draft-bernstein-ccamp-wavelength-switched-02.txt 


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Copyright Notice 
 
 
 
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   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007). 

Abstract 

   This memo provides a framework for applying Generalized Multi-
   Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) and the Path Computation Element 
   (PCE) architecture to the control of wavelength switched optical 
   networks (WSON).  In particular we provide control plane models for 
   key wavelength switched optical network subsystems and processes. The 
   subsystems include wavelength division multiplexed links, tunable 
   laser transmitters, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers 
   (ROADM) and wavelength converters.  

   Lightpath provisioning, in general, requires the routing and 
   wavelength assignment (RWA) process. This process is reviewed and the 
   information requirements, both static and dynamic for this process 
   are presented, along with alternative implementation scenarios that 
   could be realized via GMPLS/PCE and/or extended GMPLS/PCE protocols. 
   This memo does NOT address optical impairments in any depth and 
   focuses on topological elements and path selection constraints that 
   are common across different WSON environments.  It is expected that a 
   variety of different techniques will be applied to optical 
   impairments depending on the type of WSON, such as access, metro or 
   long haul. 

    

Conventions used in this document 

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", 
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this 
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC-2119 [RFC2119]. 

Table of Contents 

    
   1. Introduction...................................................3 
   2. Terminology....................................................4 
   3. Wavelength Switched Optical Networks...........................5 
      3.1. WDM and CWDM Links........................................5 
      3.2. Optical Transmitters......................................7 
         3.2.1. Lasers...............................................7 
         3.2.2. Spectral Characteristics & Modulation Type...........8 
         3.2.3. Signal Rates and Error Correction....................9 
      3.3. ROADMs, OXCs, Splitters, Combiners and FOADMs............10 
         3.3.1. Reconfigurable Add/Drop Multiplexers and OXCs.......10 
         3.3.2. Splitters...........................................11 
         3.3.3. Combiners...........................................12 
     

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         3.3.4. Fixed Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers.................12 
      3.4. Wavelength Converters....................................13 
   4. Routing and Wavelength Assignment.............................15 
      4.1. Lightpath Temporal Characteristics.......................16 
      4.2. RWA Algorithmic Approaches: Combined vs. Two-step........17 
      4.3. RWA Computation Architectures............................17 
      4.4. Conveying information needed by RWA......................18 
   5. GMPLS & PCE Implications......................................19 
      5.1. Implications for GMPLS signaling.........................19 
         5.1.1. Identifying Wavelengths and Signals.................19 
         5.1.2. Combined RWA/Separate Routing WA support............20 
         5.1.3. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Unidirectional, No 
         Converters.................................................20 
         5.1.4. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Unidirectional, 
         Limited Converters.........................................21 
         5.1.5. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Bidirectional, No 
         Converters.................................................21 
      5.2. Implications for GMPLS Routing...........................21 
         5.2.1. Need for Wavelength-Specific Maximum Bandwidth 
         Information................................................22 
         5.2.2. Need for Wavelength-Specific Availability Information22 
         5.2.3. Relationship to Link Bundling and Layering..........23 
         5.2.4. WSON Routing Information Summary....................23 
      5.3. Optical Path Computation and Implications for PCE........25 
         5.3.1. Lightpath Constraints and Characteristics...........25 
         5.3.2. Computation Architecture Implications...............26 
         5.3.3. Discovery of RWA Capable PCEs.......................26 
      5.4. Scaling Implications.....................................26 
         5.4.1. Routing.............................................27 
         5.4.2. Signaling...........................................27 
         5.4.3. Path computation....................................27 
   6. Security Considerations.......................................27 
   7. IANA Considerations...........................................27 
   8. Acknowledgments...............................................27 
   9. References....................................................29 
      9.1. Normative References.....................................29 
      9.2. Informative References...................................30 
   10. Contributors.................................................32 
   Author's Addresses...............................................32 
   Intellectual Property Statement..................................33 
   Disclaimer of Validity...........................................34 
    
1. Introduction 

   From its beginning Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) 
   was intended to control wavelength switched optical networks (WSON) 
   with the GMPLS architecture document [RFC3945] explicitly mentioning 
   both wavelength and waveband switching and equating wavelengths 
     

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   (lambdas) with GMPLS labels. In addition a discussion of optical 
   impairments and other constraints on optical routing can be found in 
   [RFC4054]. However, optical technologies have advanced in ways that 
   make them significantly different from other circuit switched 
   technologies such as Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). Service 
   providers have already deployed many of these new optical 
   technologies such as ROADMs and tunable lasers and desire the same 
   automation and restoration capabilities that GMPLS has provided to 
   TDM and packet switched networks. Another important application of an 
   automated control plane such as GMPLS is the possibility to improve, 
   via recovery schemes, the availability of the network.  One of the 
   key points of GMPLS based recovery schemes is the capability to 
   survive multiple failures while legacy protection mechanism such as 
   1+1 path protection can survive to a single failure.  Moreover this 
   improved availability can be obtained using less network resources. 

   This document will focus on the unique properties of links, switches 
   and path selection constraints that occur in WSONs.  Different WSONs 
   such as access, metro and long haul may apply different techniques 
   for dealing with optical impairments hence this document will NOT 
   address optical impairments in any depth, but instead focus on 
   properties that are common across a variety of WSONs. 

   This memo provides a framework for applying GMPLS and the Path 
   Computation Element (PCE) architecture to the control of WSONs.  In 
   particular we provide control plane models for key wavelength 
   switched optical network subsystems and processes. The subsystems 
   include wavelength division multiplexed links, tunable laser 
   transmitters, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM) 
   and wavelength converters.  

   Lightpath provisioning, in general, requires the routing and 
   wavelength assignment (RWA) process. This process is reviewed and the 
   information requirements, both static and dynamic for this process 
   are presented, along with alternative implementation architectures 
   that could be realized via various combinations of extended GMPLS and 
   PCE protocols. 

2. Terminology 

   CWDM: Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing. 

   DWDM: Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. 

   FOADM: Fixed Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer. 

   OXC: Optical cross connect. A symmetric optical switching element in 
   which a signal on any ingress port can reach any egress port. 
     

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   ROADM: Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer. An asymmetric 
   wavelength selective switching element featuring ingress and egress 
   line side ports as well as add/drop side ports.  

   RWA: Routing and Wavelength Assignment. 

   Wavelength Conversion/Converters: The process of converting an 
   information bearing optical signal centered at a given wavelength to 
   one with "equivalent" content centered at a different wavelength. 
   Wavelength conversion can be implemented via an optical-electronic-
   optical (OEO) process or via a strictly optical process. 

   WDM: Wavelength Division Multiplexing. 

   Wavelength Switched Optical Networks (WSON): WDM based optical 
   networks in which switching is performed selectively based on the 
   center wavelength of an optical signal. 

3. Wavelength Switched Optical Networks 

   WSONs come in a variety of shapes and sizes from continent spanning 
   long haul networks, to metropolitan networks, to residential access 
   networks. In all these cases we are concerned with those properties 
   that constrain the choice of wavelengths that can be used, i.e., 
   restrict the wavelength label set, impact the path selection process, 
   and limit the topological connectivity. To do so we will examine and 
   model some major subsystems of a WSON: WDM links, Optical 
   Transmitters, ROADMs, and Wavelength Converters. 

3.1. WDM and CWDM Links 

   WDM and CWDM links run over optical fibers, and optical fibers come 
   in a wide range of types that tend to be optimized for various 
   applications from access networks, metro, long haul, and submarine 
   links to name a few. ITU-T and IEC standards exist for various types 
   of fibers. For the purposes here we are concerned only with single 
   mode fibers (SMF). The following SMF fiber types are typically 
   encountered in optical networks: 










     

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      ITU-T Standard |  Common Name  
      ------------------------------------------------------------     
      G.652 [G.652]  |  Standard SMF                              | 
      G.653 [G.653]  |  Dispersion shifted SMF                    | 
      G.654 [G.654]  |  Cut-off shifted SMF                       | 
      G.655 [G.655]  |  Non-zero dispersion shifted SMF           | 
      G.656 [G.656]  |  Wideband non-zero dispersion shifted SMF  | 
      ------------------------------------------------------------ 
   These fiber types are differentiated by their optical impairment 
   characteristics such as attenuation, chromatic dispersion, 
   polarization mode dispersion, four wave mixing, etc. Since these 
   effects can be dependent upon wavelength, channel spacing and input 
   power level, the net effect for our modeling purposes here is to 
   restrict the range of wavelengths that can be used.  

   Typically WDM links operate in one or more of the approximately 
   defined optical bands: 

      Band     Range (nm)     Common Name    Raw Bandwidth (THz) 
      O-band   1260-1360      Original       17.5 
      E-band   1360-1460      Extended       15.1 
      S-band   1460-1530      Short          9.4 
      C-band   1530-1565      Conventional   4.4 
      L-band   1565-1625      Long           7.1 
      U-band   1625-1675      Ultra-long     5.5 
    

    
   Not all of a band may be usable, for example in many fibers that 
   support E-band there is significant attenuation due to a water 
   absorption peak at 1383nm. Hence we can have a discontinuous 
   acceptable wavelength range for a particular link. Also some systems 
   will utilize more than one band. This is particularly true for coarse 
   WDM (CWDM) systems.  

   [Editor's note: the previous text is primarily tutorial in nature and 
   maybe deleted or moved to an appendix in a future draft] 

   Current technology breaks up the bandwidth capacity of fibers into 
   distinct channels based on either wavelength or frequency. There are 
   two standards covering wavelengths and channel spacing. ITU-T 
   recommendation [G.694.1] describes a DWDM grid defined in terms of 
   frequency spacings of 12.5GHz, 25GHz, 50GHz, 100GHz, and other 
   multiples of 100GHz around a 193.1THz center frequency. At the 
   narrowest channel spacing this provides less than 4800 channels 
   across the O through U bands. ITU-T recommendation [G.694.2] 
   describes a CWDM grid define in terms of wavelength increments of 
   20nm running from 1271nm to 1611nm for 18 or so channels. The number 
     

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   of channels is significantly smaller than the 32 bit GMPLS label 
   space allocated to lambda switching.  A fixed mapping between the 
   GMPLS label space and these ITU-T WDM grids as proposed in [Otani] 
   would not only allow a common vocabulary to be used in signaling 
   lightpaths but also in describing WDM links, ROADM ports, and 
   wavelength converters for the purposes path selection. 

   With a tremendous existing base of fiber many WDM links are designed 
   to take advantage of particular fiber characteristics or to try to 
   avoid undesirable properties.  For example dispersion shifted SMF 
   [G.653] was originally designed for good long distance performance in 
   single channel systems, however putting WDM over this type of fiber 
   requires much system engineering and a fairly limited range of 
   wavelengths. Hence for our basic, impairment unaware, modeling of a 
   WDM link we will need the following information: 

   o  Wavelength range(s): Given a mapping between labels and the ITU-T 
      grids each range could be expressed in terms of a doublet 
      (lambda1, lambda2) or (freq1, freq1) where the lambdas or 
      frequencies can be represented by 32 bit integers. 

   o  Channel spacing: currently there are about five channel spacings 
      used in DWDM systems 12.5GHz to 200GHz and one defined CWDM 
      spacing. 

   For a particular link this information is relatively static, i.e., 
   changes to these properties generally require hardware upgrades. Such 
   information could be used locally during wavelength assignment via 
   signaling, similar to label restrictions in MPLS or used by a PCE in 
   solving the combined routing and wavelength assignment problem. 

3.2. Optical Transmitters 

   3.2.1. Lasers 

   WDM optical systems make use of laser transmitters utilizing 
   different wavelengths (frequencies). Some laser transmitters were and 
   are manufactured for a specific wavelength of operation, that is, the 
   manufactured frequency cannot be changed. First introduced to reduce 
   inventory costs, tunable optical laser transmitters are becoming 
   widely deployed in some systems [Coldren04], [Buus06]. This allows 
   flexibility in the wavelength used for optical transmission and aids 
   in the control of path selection.  

   Two fundamental modeling parameters from the control plane 
   perspective optical transmitters are: 

   o  Tunable: Is this transmitter tunable or fixed. 
     

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   o  Tuning range: This is the frequency or wavelength range over which 
      the laser can be tuned. With the fixed mapping of labels to 
      lambda's of [Otani] this can be expressed as a doublet (lambda1, 
      lambda2) or (freq1, freq2) where lambda1 and lambda2 or freq1 and 
      freq2 are the labels representing the lower and upper bounds in 
      wavelength or frequency. 

   o  Tuning time: Tuning times highly depend on the technology used. 
      Thermal drift based tuning may take seconds to stabilize, whilst 
      electronic tuning might provide sub-ms tuning times. Depending on 
      the application this might be critical. For example, thermal drift 
      might not be applicable for fast protection applications. 

   Note that ITU-T recommendations specify many other parameters for 
   characterizing a laser such as spectral characteristics (how narrow 
   the unmodulated carrier is), stability (how well the laser stays on 
   the nominal frequency). Many of these parameters a key in designing 
   WDM subsystems consisting of transmitters, WDM links and receivers 
   however they do not furnish additional information that will 
   influence label switched path (LSP) provisioning in a properly 
   designed system. 

   Also note that lasers transmitters as a component can degrade and 
   fail over time. This presents the possibility of the failure of a LSP 
   (lightpath) without either a node or link failure. Hence, additional 
   mechanisms may be necessary to detect and differentiate this failure 
   from the others, e.g., one doesn't not want to initiate mesh 
   restoration if the source transmitter has failed, since the laser 
   transmitter will still be failed on the alternate optical path. 

   3.2.2. Spectral Characteristics & Modulation Type 

   Contrary to some marketing claims optical systems are not truly 
   "transparent" to the content of the signals that they carry. Each 
   lightpath will have spectral characteristics based on its content, 
   and the spacing of wavelengths in a WDM link will ultimately put 
   constraints on that spectrum.   

   For analog signals such as used in closed access television (CATV) or 
   "radio over fiber" links spectral characteristics are given in terms 
   of various bandwidth measures. However digital signals consist of our 
   main focus here and in the ITU-T G series optical specifications. In 
   this case the spectral characteristics can be more accurately 
   inferred from the modulation format and the bit rate. 

   Although Non-Return to Zero (NRZ) is currently the dominant form of 
   optical modulation, new modulation formats are being researched 
   [Winzer06] and deployed. With a choice in modulation formats we no 
     

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   longer have a one to one relationship between digital bandwidth in 
   bytes or bits per second and the amount of optical spectrum (optical 
   bandwidth) consumed. To simplify the specification of optical signals 
   the ITU-T, in recommendation G.959.1, combined a rate bound and 
   modulation format designator [G.959.1]. For example, two of the 
   signal classes defined in [G.959.1] are: 

   Optical tributary signal class NRZ 1.25G:  

     "Applies to continuous digital signals with non-return to zero line 
     coding, from nominally 622 Mbit/s to nominally 1.25 Gbit/s. Optical 
     tributary signal class NRZ 1.25G includes a signal with STM-4 bit 
     rate according to ITU-T Rec. G.707/Y.1322." Note that Gigabit 
     Ethernet falls into this signaling class as well. 

   Optical tributary signal class RZ 40G:  

     "Applies to continuous digital signals with return to zero line 
     coding, from nominally 9.9 Gbit/s to nominally 43.02 Gbit/s. 
     Optical tributary signal class RZ 40G includes a signal with STM-
     256 bit rate according to ITU-T Rec. G.707/Y.1322 and OTU3 bit rate 
     according to ITU-T Rec. G.709/Y.1331." 

   From a modeling perspective we have: 

   o  Analog signals: bandwidth parameters, e.g., 3dB parameters and 
      similar. 

   o  Digital signals: there are predefined modulation bit rate classes 
      that we can encode. 

   This information can be important in constraining route selection, 
   for example some signals may not be compatible with some links or 
   wavelength converters. In addition it lets the endpoints understand 
   if it can process the signal. 

   3.2.3. Signal Rates and Error Correction 

   Although, the spectral characteristics of a signal determine its 
   basic compatibility with a WDM system, more information is generally 
   needed for various processing activities such as regeneration and 
   reception. Many digital signals such as Ethernet, G.709, and SDH have 
   well defined encoding which includes forward error correction (FEC).  
   However many subsystem vendors offer additional FEC options for a 
   given signal type. The use of different FECs can lead to different 
   overall signal rates. If the FEC and rate used is not compatible 
   between the sender and receiver the signal can not be correctly 
   processed. Note that the rates of "standard" signals may be extended 
     

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   to accommodate different payloads.  For example there are 
   transmitters capable of directly mapping 10GE LAN-PHY traffic into 
   G.709 ODU2 frame with slightly higher clock rate [G.Sup43]. 

3.3. ROADMs, OXCs, Splitters, Combiners and FOADMs 

   3.3.1. Reconfigurable Add/Drop Multiplexers and OXCs 

   Reconfigurable add/drop optical multiplexers (ROADM) have matured and 
   are available in different forms and technologies [Basch06]. This is 
   a key technology that allows wavelength based optical switching. A 
   classic degree-2 ROADM is shown in Figure 1. 

 
        Line side ingress    +---------------------+  Line side egress 
                         --->|                     |---> 
                             |                     | 
                             |        ROADM        | 
                             |                     | 
                             |                     | 
                             +---------------------+ 
                                 | | | |  o o o o 
                                 | | | |  | | | | 
                                 O O O O  | | | | 
         Tributary Side:   Drop (egress)  Add (ingress)  
    
                          Figure 1 Degree-2 ROADM 

   The key feature across all ROADM types is their highly asymmetric 
   switching capability. In the ROADM of Figure 1, the "add" ingress 
   ports can only egress on the line side egress port and not on any of 
   the "drop" egress ports. The degree of a ROADM or switch is given by 
   the number of line side ports (ingress and egress) and does not 
   include the number of "add" or "drop" ports. Sometimes the "add" 
   "drop" ports are also called tributary ports. As the degree of the 
   ROADM increases beyond two it can have properties of both a switch 
   (OXC)and a multiplexer and hence we must know the potential 
   connectivity offered by such a network element to effectively utilize 
   it. A straight forward way to do this is via a "potential 
   connectivity" matrix A where Amn = 0 or 1, depending upon whether a 
   wavelength on ingress port m can be connected to egress port n 
   [Imajuku]. For the ROADM of Figure 1 the potential connectivity 
   matrix can be expressed as 





     

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               Ingress  Egress Port 
               Port     #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 
                        -------------- 
               #1:      1  1  1  1  1 
               #2       1  0  0  0  0 
         A =   #3       1  0  0  0  0 
               #4       1  0  0  0  0   
               #5       1  0  0  0  0 
    
   Where ingress ports 2-5 are add ports, egress ports 2-5 are drop 
   ports and ingress port #1 and egress port #1 are the line side (WDM) 
   ports. 

   For ROADMs this matrix will be very sparse, and for OXCs the 
   complement of the matrix will be very sparse hence even relatively 
   high degree ROADMs/OXCs can be compactly characterized. 

   Additional constraints may also apply to the various ports in a 
   ROADM/OXC. In the literature of optical switches and ROADMs the 
   following restrictions/terms are used: 

   Colored port: An ingress or more typically an egress (drop) port 
   restricted to a single channel of fixed wavelength.  

   Colorless port: An ingress or more typically an egress (drop) port 
   restricted to a single channel of arbitrary wavelength. 

   In general a port on a ROADM could have any of the following 
   wavelength restrictions: 

   o  Multiple wavelengths, full range port 

   o  Single wavelength, full range port 

   o  Single wavelength, fixed lambda port 

   o  Multiple wavelengths, reduced range port (like wave band 
      switching) 

   To model these restrictions we need two numbers for each port: (a) 
   number of wavelengths, (b) wavelength range and spacing.  Note that 
   this information is relatively static. 

   3.3.2. Splitters 

   An optical splitter consists of a single ingress port and two or more 
   egress ports. The ingress optical signaled is essentially copied 
   (with loss) to all egress ports.  
     

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   Using the modeling notions of section 3.3.1. the ingress and egress 
   ports of a splitter would have the same wavelength restrictions. In 
   addition we can describe a splitter by a connectivity matrix Amn as 
   follows: 

               Ingress  Egress Port 
               Port     #1 #2 #3 ...   #N 
                        ----------------- 
         A =   #1       1  1  1  ...   1 
                
   The difference from a simple ROADM is that this is not a "potential" 
   connectivity matrix but the fixed connectivity of the device. Hence 
   to differentiate between a simple ROADM and a splitter we'd need an 
   indicator as to whether the device is reconfigurable. 

   3.3.3. Combiners 

   A optical combiner is somewhat the dual of a splitter in that it has 
   a single multi-wavelength egress port and multiple ingress ports.  
   The contents of all the ingress ports are copied and combined to the 
   single egress port.  The various ports may have different wavelength 
   restrictions. It is generally the responsibility of those using the 
   combiner to assure that wavelength collision does not occur on the 
   egress port. The connectivity matrix Amn for a combiner would look 
   like: 

               Ingress  Egress Port 
               Port     #1  
                        --- 
               #1:      1   
               #2       1   
         A =   #3       1   
               ...      1      
               #N       1   
    
   Once again this connectivity is fixed. 

   3.3.4. Fixed Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers 

   A fixed optical add/drop multiplexer can alter the course of an 
   ingress wavelength in a preset way. In particular a particular 
   wavelength (or waveband) from a line side ingress port would be 
   dropped to a particular "tributary" egress port. Depending on the 
   device's fixed configuration that same wavelength may or may not be 
   "continued" to the line side egress port ("drop and continue" 
   operation).  Further there may exist tributary ingress ports ("add" 
   ports) whose signals are combined with each other and "continued" 
   line side signals.  
     

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   In general to represent the routing properties of an FOADM we need 
   the connectivity matrix Amn as previously discussed and we need the 
   precise wavelength restrictions for all ingress and egress ports. 
   From the wavelength restrictions on the tributary egress ports (drop 
   ports) we can see what wavelengths have been dropped. From the 
   wavelength restrictions on the tributary ingress (add) ports we can 
   see which wavelengths have been added to the line side egress port. 
   Finally from the added wavelength information and the line side 
   egress wavelength restrictions we can infer which wavelengths have 
   been continued.  

   To summarize, the modeling methodology introduced in section 3.3.1. 
   consisting of a connectivity matrix and port wavelength restrictions 
   can be used to describe a large set of fixed optical devices such as 
   combiners, splitters and FOADMs with the inclusion of an indicator as 
   to whether the device is Fixed or Reconfigurable and the appropriate 
   interpretations detailed previously. 

3.4. Wavelength Converters 

   Wavelength converters take an ingress optical signal at one 
   wavelength and emit an equivalent content optical signal at another 
   wavelength on egress. There are currently two approaches to building 
   wavelength converters. One approach is based on optical to electrical 
   to optical (OEO) conversion with tunable lasers on egress. This 
   approach can be dependent upon the signal rate and format, i.e., this 
   is basically an electrical regenerator combined with a tunable laser. 
   The other approach performs the wavelength conversion, optically via 
   non-linear optical effects, similar in spirit to the familiar 
   frequency mixing used in radio frequency systems, but significantly 
   harder to implement.  Such processes/effects may place limits on the 
   range of achievable conversion. These may depend on the wavelength of 
   the input signal and the properties of the converter as opposed to 
   the only the properties of the converter in the OEO case. Different 
   WSON system designs may choose to utilize this component to varying 
   degrees or not at all. 

   Current or envisioned contexts for wavelength converters are: 

  1. Wavelength conversion associated with OEO switches and tunable 
     laser transmitters. In this case there are plenty of converters to 
     go around since we can think of each tunable output laser 
     transmitter on an OEO switch as a potential wavelength converter.  

  2. Wavelength conversion associated with ROADMs/OXCs. In this case we 
     may have a limited amount of conversion available. Conversion could 
     be either all optical or via an OEO method. 

     

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  3. Wavelength conversion associated with fixed devices such as FOADMs. 
     In this case we may have a limited amount of conversion. Also in 
     this case the conversion may be used as part of light path routing. 

   Based on the above contexts a tentative modeling approach for 
   wavelength converters could be as follows: 

   1. Wavelength converters can always be modeled as associated with 
      network elements. This includes fixed wavelength routing elements. 

   2. A network element may have full wavelength conversion capability, 
      i.e., any ingress port and wavelength, or a limited number of 
      wavelengths and ports. On a box with a limited number of 
      converters there also may exist restrictions on which ports can 
      reach the converters. Hence regardless of where the converters 
      actually are we can associate them with ingress ports. 

   3. Wavelength converters have range restrictions that are either 
      independent or dependent upon the ingress wavelength. [TBD: for 
      those that depend on ingress wavelength can we have a standard 
      formula? Also note that this type of converter introduces 
      additional optical impairments.] 

   4. Wavelength converters that are O-E-O based will have a restriction 
      based on the modulation format and transmission speed. 

   Note that since O-E-O wavelength converters also serve as 
   regenerators we can include regenerators in our model of wavelength 
   converters. O-E-O Regenerators come in three general types known as 
   1R, 2R, and 3R regenerators. 1R regenerators re-amplify the signal to 
   combat attenuation, 2R regenerators reshape as well as amplify the 
   signal, 3R regenerators amplify, reshape and retime the signal. As we 
   go from 1R to 3R regenerators the signal is ''cleaned up'' better but 
   at the same time the regeneration process becomes more dependent on 
   the signal characteristics such as format and rate. 

   In WSONs where wavelength converters are sparse we may actually see a 
   light path appear to loop or ''backtrack'' upon itself in order to 
   reach a wavelength converter prior to continuing on to its 
   destination. The lambda used on the "detour" out to the wavelength 
   converter would be different from that coming back from the "detour" 
   to the wavelength converter. 

   A model for an O-E-O wavelength converter would consist of: 

   o  Input lambda or frequency range 

   o  Output lambda or frequency range 
     

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   o  Equivalent regeneration level (1R, 2R, 3R) 

   o  Signal restrictions if a 2R or 3R regeneration: formats and rates 

  [FFS: Model for an all optical wavelength converter] 

4. Routing and Wavelength Assignment 

   In wavelength switched optical networks consisting of tunable lasers 
   and wavelength selective switches with wavelength converters on every 
   interface, path selection is similar to the MPLS and TDM circuit 
   switched cases in that the labels, in this case wavelengths 
   (lambdas), have only local significance. That is, a wavelength-
   convertible network with full wavelength-conversion capability at 
   each node is equivalent to a circuit-switched TDM network with full 
   time slot interchange capability; thus, the routing problem needs to 
   be addressed only at the level of the traffic engineered (TE) link 
   choice, and wavelength assignment can be resolved locally by the 
   switches on a hop-by-hop basis. 

   However, in the limiting case of an optical network with no 
   wavelength converters, a light path (optical channel - OCh -) needs a 
   route from source to destination and must pick a single wavelength 
   that can be used along that path without "colliding" with the 
   wavelength used by any other light path that may share an optical 
   fiber. This is sometimes referred to as a "wavelength continuity 
   constraint". To ease up on this constraint while keeping network 
   costs in check a limited number of wavelength converters maybe 
   introduce at key points in the network [Chu03]. 

   In the general case of limited or no wavelength converters this 
   computation is known as the Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) 
   problem [HZang00]. The "hardness" of this problem is well documented, 
   however, there exists a number of reasonable approximate methods for 
   its solution [HZang00]. 

   The inputs to the basic RWA problem are the requested light paths 
   source and destination, the networks topology, the locations and 
   capabilities of any wavelength converters, and the wavelengths 
   available on each optical link. The output from an algorithm solving 
   the RWA problem is an explicit route through ROADMs, a wavelength for 
   the optical transmitter, and a set of locations (generally associated 
   with ROADMs or switches) where wavelength conversion is to occur and 
   the new wavelength to be used on each component link after that point 
   in the route. 

   It is to be noted that choice of specific RWA algorithm is out of the 
   scope for this document. However there are a number of different 
     

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   approaches to dealing with the RWA algorithm that can affect the 
   division of effort between signaling, routing and PCE.  

4.1. Lightpath Temporal Characteristics  

   Key inputs that can affect the choice of solution to the RWA process 
   are those associated with the temporal characteristics of a light 
   path connection. For our purposes here we look at the timeliness of 
   connection establishment/teardown, and the duration of the 
   connection. 

   Connection Establishment/Teardown Timeliness can be thought of in 
   approximately three time frames: 

  1. Time Critical:  For example those lightpath establishments used for 
     restoration of service or other high priority real time service 
     requests. 

  2. Soft time bounds: This is a more typical new connection request. 
     While expected to be responsive, there should be more time to take 
     into account network optimization. 

  3. Scheduled or Advanced reservations. Here lightpath connections are 
     requested significantly ahead of their intended "in service" time. 
     There is the potential for significant network optimization if 
     multiple lightpaths can be computed in parallel to achieve network 
     optimization objectives. 

  Lightpath connection duration has typically been thought of as 
     approximately three time frames: 

  1. Dynamic: those lightpaths with relatively short duration (holding 
     times). 

  2. Pseudo-static: lightpaths with moderately long durations. 

  3. Static: lightpaths with long durations. 

   Different types of RWA algorithms have been developed for dealing 
   with dynamic versus pseudo-static conditions.  These can address 
   service providers needs for: (a) network optimization, (b) 
   restoration, and (c) highly dynamic lightpath provisioning.  

   Hence we can model timescale related lightpath requirements via the 
   following notions: 

   o  Batch or Sequential light path connection requests 

     

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   o  Timeliness of Connection establishment  

   o  Duration of lightpath connection  

4.2. RWA Algorithmic Approaches: Combined vs. Two-step   

   When solving the RWA problem some algorithms that solve the problem 
   in two step procedure of path selection followed by wavelength 
   assignment, and others that solve the problem in a combined fashion.  
   These different types of algorithms can have different 
   characteristics with respect to computational complexity and 
   optimality that can influence how and where they may be used.  

   Given a path, the following are a non-exhaustive subset of wavelength 
   assignment (WA) approaches discussed in [HZang00]: 

   1. Random: Looks at all available wavelengths for the light path then 
      chooses from those available at random. 

   2. First Fit: Wavelengths are ordered, first available (on all links) 
      is chosen. 

   3. Most Used: Out of the wavelengths available on the path attempts 
      to select most use wavelength in network.  

   4. Least Loaded: For multi-fiber networks. Chooses the wavelength j 
      that maximizes minimum of the difference between the number of 
      fibers on link l and the number of fibers on link l with 
      wavelength j occupied. 

   As can be seen from the above short list, wavelength assignment 
   methods have differing information or processing requirements. When a 
   two step RWA algorithm is used there is also the possibility of 
   utilizing the signaling system to perform distributed wavelength 
   assignment. The details would differ according to the WA algorithm 
   chosen but at a minimum all would take an intersection of available 
   wavelength sets as seen at each link along the path to produce the 
   available wavelength set for the path. 

4.3. RWA Computation Architectures 

   The previous discussion leads to the following possible RWA 
   computation architectures. As will be seen in the GMPLS/PCE 
   evaluation section these architectures have different impacts on 
   their needs with respect to protocol extensions. 



     

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   o  Combined RWA --- Both routing and wavelength assignment are 
      performed at a single computational entity. This choice assumes 
      that computational entity has sufficient WSON network link/nodal 
      information and topology to be able to compute RWA. The amount of 
      information can vary depending on the RWA approach/algorithm 
      utilized. Good for network optimization and for smaller WSONs. 

   o  Separate Routing and WA --- Separate entities perform routing and 
      wavelength assignment. The path obtained from the routing 
      computational entity must be furnished to the entity performing 
      wavelength assignment. Good for offloading some of the 
      computational burden and for reducing the number of entities that 
      need exact network link wavelength utilization, i.e., there can be 
      fewer nodes that perform WA than perform routing. 

   o  Routing with Distributed WA --- Routing is performed at a 
      computational entity while wavelength assignment is performed in a 
      distributed fashion across nodes along the path. Good in that it 
      does not require exact network link wavelength information at any 
      node, can have higher blocking probabilities compared to other 
      methods. 

4.4. Conveying information needed by RWA 

   The previous sections have characterized WSONs and lightpath 
   requests. In particular high level models of the information by the 
   RWA process were presented. We can view this information as either 
   static, changing with hardware changes (including possibly failures), 
   or dynamic, can change with subsequent lightpath provisioning. The 
   timeliness in which an entity involved in the RWA process is notified 
   of such changes is fairly situational. For example, for network 
   restoration purposes, learning of a hardware failure or of new 
   hardware coming online to provide restoration capability can be 
   critical. 
   Currently there are various methods for communicating RWA relevant 
   information, these include, but are not limited to:  

   o  Existing control plane protocols such as GMPLS routing and 
      signaling. Note that routing protocols can be used to convey both 
      static and dynamic information. Static information currently 
      conveyed includes items like router options and such.  

   o  Management protocols such as NetConf, SNMPv3, CLI, CORBA, or 
      others.  

   o  Directory services and accompanying protocols. These are good for 
      the dissemination of relatively static information. Not intended 
      for dynamic information.  
     

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   o  Other techniques for dynamic information: messaging straight from 
      NEs to PCE to avoid flooding. Only useful if number of PCEs is 
      significantly less than number of WSON NEs. Or other ways to limit 
      flooding to "interested" NEs. 

   Mechanisms to improve scaling of dynamic information: 

   o  Tailor message content to WSON. For example the use of wavelength 
      ranges, or wavelength occupation bit maps. 

   o  Utilize incremental updates if feasible. 

5. GMPLS & PCE Implications 

   The presence and amount of wavelength conversion available at a 
   wavelength switching interface has an impact on the information that 
   needs to be transferred by the control plane (GMPLS) and the PCE 
   architecture. Current GMPLS and PCE standards can address the full 
   wavelength conversion case so the following with only address the 
   limited and no wavelength conversion cases. 

5.1. Implications for GMPLS signaling 

   Basic support for WSON signaling already exists in GMPLS with the 
   lambda (value 9) LSP encoding type [RFC3471], or for G.709 compatible 
   optical channels, the LSP encoding type (value = 13) "G.709 Optical 
   Channel" from [RFC4328]. However a number of practical issues arise 
   in the identification of wavelengths and signals, and distributed 
   wavelength assignment processes which are discussed below. 

   5.1.1. Identifying Wavelengths and Signals 

   As previously stated a global fixed mapping between wavelengths and 
   labels simplifies the characterization of WDM links and WSON devices. 
   Furthermore such a mapping as described in [Otani] eases 
   communication between PCE and WSON PCCs. 

   An alternative to a global network map of labels to wavelengths would 
   be to use LMP to assign the map for each link then convey that 
   information to any path computation entities, e.g., label switch 
   routers or stand alone PCEs. The local label map approach will 
   require the label-set contents in the RSVP-TE Path message to be 
   translated every time the map changes between an incoming link and 
   the outgoing link. 

   In the future, it maybe worthwhile to define traffic parameters for 
   lambda LSPs that include a signal type field that includes modulation 

     

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   format/rate information. This is similar to what was done in 
   reference [RFC4606] for SONET/SDH signal types. 

   5.1.2. Combined RWA/Separate Routing WA support 

   In either the combined RWA or separate routing WA cases, the node 
   initiating the signaling will have a route from the source to 
   destination along with the wavelengths (generalized labels) to be 
   used along portions of the path. Current GMPLS signaling supports an 
   explicit route object (ERO) and within an ERO an ERO Label subobject 
   can be use to indicate the wavelength to be used at a particular 
   node. In case the local label map approach is used the label sub-
   object entry in the ERO has to be translated appropriately. 

   5.1.3. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Unidirectional, No 
      Converters 

   GMPLS signaling for a uni-directional lightpath LSP allows for the 
   use of a label set object in the RSVP-TE path message. The processing 
   of the label set object to take the intersection of available lambdas 
   along a path can be performed resulting in the set of available 
   lambda being known to the destination that can then use a wavelength 
   selection algorithm to choose a lambda. The algorithms that can be 
   used would be limited to the information available at the destination 
   node. The information requirements of the methods discussed in 
   section 4.2. are as follows: 

  1. Random: nothing more than the available wavelength set. 

  2. First Fit: nothing more than the available wavelength set. 

  3. Most Used: the available wavelength set and information on global 
     wavelength use in the network.  

  4. Least Loaded: the available wavelength set and information 
     concerning the wavelength dependent loading for each link (this 
     applies to multi-fiber links). This could be obtained via global 
     information or via supplemental information passed via the 
     signaling protocol.  

   In cases (3) and (4) above the global information needed by the 
   wavelength assignment could be derived from suitably enhanced GMPLS 
   routing. Currently, GMPLS signaling does not provide a way to 
   indicate that a particular wavelength assignment algorithm should be 
   used. 



     

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   5.1.4. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Unidirectional, Limited 
      Converters 

   The previous outlined the case with no wavelength converters. In the 
   case of wavelength converters nodes with wavelength converters would 
   need to make the decision as to whether to perform conversion. One 
   indicator for this would be that the set of available wavelengths 
   which is obtained via the intersection of the incoming label set and 
   the egress links available wavelengths is either null or deemed too 
   small to permit successful completion. 

   At this point the node would need to remember that it will apply 
   wavelength conversion and will be responsible for assigning the 
   wavelength on the previous lambda-contiguous segment when the RSVP-TE 
   RESV message passes by. The node will pass on an enlarged label set 
   reflecting only the limitations of the wavelength converter and the 
   egress link. The record route option in RVSP-TE signaling can be used 
   to show where wavelength conversion has taken place. 

   5.1.5. Distributed Wavelength Assignment: Bidirectional, No 
      Converters 

   There are potential issues in the case of a bi-directional lightpath 
   which requires the use of the same lambda in both directions. We can 
   try to use the above procedure to determine the available 
   bidirectional lambda set if we use the interpretation that the 
   available label set is available in both directions. However, a 
   problem, arises in that bidirectional LSPs setup, according to 
   [RFC3471] section 4.1, is indicated by the presence of an upstream 
   label in the path message.  

   However, until the intersection of the available label sets is 
   obtained, e.g., at the destination node and the wavelength assignment 
   algorithm has been run the upstream label information will not be 
   available. Hence currently distributed wavelength assignment with 
   bidirectional lightpaths is not supported. 
    

5.2. Implications for GMPLS Routing 

   GMPLS routing [RFC4202] currently defines an interface capability 
   descriptor for "lambda switch capable" (LSC) which we can use to 
   describe the interfaces on a ROADM or other type of wavelength 
   selective switch. In addition to the topology information typically 
   conveyed via an IGP, we would need to convey the following subsystem 
   properties to minimally characterize a WSON: 

  1. WDM Link properties (allowed wavelengths). 
     

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  2. Laser Transmitters (wavelength range). 

  3. ROADM/FOADM properties (connectivity matrix, port wavelength 
     restrictions). 

  4. Wavelength Converter properties (per network element, may change if 
     a common limited shared pool is used). 

   In most cases we should be able to combine items (1) and (2) into the 
   information in item (3). Except for the number of wavelength 
   converters that are available in a shared pool, and the previous 
   information is fairly static. In the next two sections we discuss 
   dynamic available link bandwidth information. 

   5.2.1. Need for Wavelength-Specific Maximum Bandwidth Information 

   Difficulties are encountered when trying to use the bandwidth 
   accounting methods of [RFC4202] and [RFC3630] to describe the 
   availability of wavelengths on a WDM link. The current RFCs give 
   three link resource measures: Maximum Bandwidth, Maximum Reservable 
   Bandwidth, and Unreserved Bandwidth. Although these can be used to 
   describe a WDM span they do not provide the fundamental information 
   needed for RWA. We are not given the maximum bandwidth per wavelength 
   for the span. If we did then we could use the aforementioned measures 
   to tell us the maximum wavelength count and the number of available 
   wavelengths. 

   For example, suppose we have a 32 channel WDM span, and that the 
   system in general supports ITU-T NRZ signals up to NRZ 10Gbps. 
   Further suppose that the first 20 channels are carrying 1Gbps 
   Ethernet, then the maximum bandwidth would be 320Gbps and the maximum 
   reservable bandwidth would be 120Gbps (12 wavelengths).  
   Alternatively, consider the case where the first 8 channels are 
   carrying 2.5Gbps SDH STM-16 channels, then the maximum bandwidth 
   would still be 320Gbps and the maximum reservable bandwidth would be 
   240Gbps (24 wavelengths). 

   Such information would be useful in the routing with distributed WA 
   approach of section 4.3.  

   5.2.2. Need for Wavelength-Specific Availability Information 

   Even if we know the number of available wavelengths on a link, we 
   actually need to know which specific wavelengths are available and 
   which are occupied if we are going to run a combined RWA process or 
   separate WA process as discussed in section 4.3.  This is currently 
   not possible with GMPLS routing extensions.  

     

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   In the routing extensions for GMPLS [RFC4202], requirements for 
   layer-specific TE attributes are discussed. The RWA problem for 
   optical networks without wavelength converters imposes an additional 
   requirement for the lambda (or optical channel) layer: that of 
   knowing which specific wavelengths are in use. Note that current 
   dense WDM (DWDM) systems range from 16 channels to 128 channels with 
   advanced laboratory systems with as many as 300 channels. Given these 
   channel limitations and if we take the approach of a global 
   wavelength to label mapping or furnishing the local mappings to the 
   PCEs then representing the use of wavelengths via a simple bit-map is 
   feasible.  

   In the GMPLS extensions for OSPF [RFC4203] the interface capability 
   descriptor sub-TLV contains a subfield that contains switching 
   capability specific information and is one possible place for a bit 
   map of available lambdas. However, current GMPLS routing extensions 
   do not provide enough information for the solution of the RWA 
   problem. 

   5.2.3. Relationship to Link Bundling and Layering 

   When dealing with static DWDM systems, particularly from a SONET/SDH 
   or G.709 digital wrapper layer, each lambda looks like a separate 
   link. Typically a bunch of unnumbered links, as supported in GMPLS 
   routing extensions [RFC4202], would be used to describe a static DWDM 
   system. In addition these links can be bundled into a TE link 
   ([RFC4202], [RFC4201]) for more efficient dissemination of resource 
   information. However, in the case discussed here we want to control a 
   dynamic WDM layer and must deal with wavelengths as labels and not 
   just as links or component links from the perspective of an upper 
   (client) layer. In addition, a typical point to point optical cable 
   contains many optical fibers and hence it may be desirable to bundle 
   these separate fibers into a TE link. Note that in the no wavelength 
   conversion or limited wavelength conversion situations that we will 
   need information on wavelength usage on the individual component 
   links. 

   5.2.4. WSON Routing Information Summary 

   The following table summarizes the WSON information that could be 
   conveyed via GMPLS routing and attempts to classify that information 
   as to its static or dynamic nature and whether that information would 
   tend to be associated with either a link or a node. 

    



     

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      Information                         Static/Dynamic       Node/Link 
      ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
      Connectivity matrix                 Static               Node 
      Per port wavelength restrictions    Static               Node(1) 
      WDM link (fiber) lambda ranges      Static               Link 
      WDM link channel spacing            Static               Link 
      Laser Transmitter range             Static               Link(2) 
      Wavelength conversion capabilities  Static(3)            Node 
      Maximum bandwidth per Wavelength    Static               Link 
      Wavelength Availability             Dynamic(4)           Link 
    
   Notes: 

   1. These are the per port wavelength restrictions of an optical 
      device such as a ROADM and are independent of any optical 
      constraints imposed by a fiber link. 

   2. This could also be viewed as a node capability. 

   3. This could be dynamic in the case of a limited pool of converters 
      where the number available can change with connection 
      establishment. Note we may want to include regeneration 
      capabilities here since OEO converters are also regenerators. 

   4. Not necessarily needed in the case of distributed wavelength 
      assignment via signaling. 

    

   While the full complement of the information from the previous table 
   is needed in the Combined RWA and the separate Routing and WA 
   architectures, in the case of Routing + distribute WA via signaling 
   we only need the following information: 

      Information                         Static/Dynamic       Node/Link 
      ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
      Connectivity matrix                 Static               Node 
      Wavelength conversion capabilities  Static(3)            Node 
    

   Note that this case required signaling extensions as previously 
   discussed. 






     

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5.3. Optical Path Computation and Implications for PCE 

   As previously noted the RWA problem can be computationally intensive 
   [HZang00]. Such computationally intensive path computations and 
   optimizations were part of the impetus for the PCE (path computation 
   element) architecture. 

   As the PCEP defines the procedures necessary to support both 
   sequential [PCEP] and global concurrent path computations [PCE-GCO], 
   PCE is well positioned to support WSON-enabled RWA computation with 
   some protocol enhancement.  

   Implications for PCE generally fall into two main categories: (a) 
   lightpath constraints and characteristics, (b) computation 
   architectures. 

   5.3.1. Lightpath Constraints and Characteristics 

   For the varying degrees of optimization that may be encountered in a 
   network the following models of bulk and sequential lightpath 
   requests are encountered: 

   o  Batch optimization, multiple lightpaths requested at one time.  

   o  Lightpath(s) and backup lightpath(s) requested at one time. 

   o  Single lightpath requested at a time.  

   PCEP and PCE-GCO can be readily enhanced to support all of the 
   potential models of RWA computation.  

   Lightpath constraints include: 

   o  Bidirectional Assignment of wavelengths 

   o  Possible simultaneous assignment of wavelength to primary and 
      backup paths.  

   o  Tuning range constraint on optical transmitter. 

   Lightpath characteristics can include: 

   o  Duration information (how long this connection may last) 

   o  Timeliness/Urgency information (how quickly is this connection 
      needed) 
     

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   5.3.2. Computation Architecture Implications 

   When a PCE performs a combined RWA computation per section 4.3. it 
   requires accurate an up to date wavelength utilization on all links 
   in the network. 

   When a PCE is used to perform wavelength assignment (WA) in the 
   separate routing WA architecture then the entity requesting WA needs 
   to furnish the pre-selected route to the PCE as well as any of the 
   lightpath constraints/characteristics previously mentioned. This 
   architecture also requires the PCE performing WA to have accurate and 
   up to date network wavelength utilization information. 

   When a PCE is used to perform routing in a routing with distribute WA 
   architecture, then the PCE does not necessarily need the most up to 
   date network wavelength utilization information, however timely 
   information can contributed to reducing failed signaling attempts 
   related to blocking. 

   5.3.3. Discovery of RWA Capable PCEs 

   The algorithms and network information needed for solving the RWA are 
   somewhat specialized and computationally intensive hence not all PCEs 
   within a domain would necessarily need or want this capability.  
   Hence, it would be useful via the mechanisms being established for 
   PCE discovery [DISCO] to indicate that a PCE has the ability to deal 
   with the RWA problem. Reference [DISCO] indicates that a sub-TLV 
   could be allocated for this purpose. 

   Recent progress on objective functions in PCE [PCE-OF] would allow 
   the operators to flexibly request differing objective functions per 
   their need and applications. For instance, this would allow the 
   operator to choose an objective function that minimizes the total 
   network cost associated with setting up a set of paths concurrently. 
   This would also allow operators to choose an objective function that 
   results in a most evenly distributed link utilization.  

   This implies that PCEP would easily accommodate wavelength selection 
   algorithm in its objective function to be able to optimize the path 
   computation from the perspective of wavelength assignment if chosen 
   by the operators.  

5.4. Scaling Implications 

   This section provides a summary of the scaling issue for WSON 
   routing, signaling and path computation introduced by the concepts 
   discussed in this document.  

     

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   5.4.1. Routing 

   In large WSONs label availability and cross connect capability 
   information being advertised may generate a significant amount of 
   routing information.    

   5.4.2. Signaling 

   When dealing with a large number of simultaneous end-to-end 
   wavelength service requests and service deletions the network may 
   have to process a significant number of forward and backward service 
   messages. Also, similar situation possibly happens in the case of 
   link or node failure, if the WSON support dynamic restoration 
   capability. 

   5.4.3. Path computation 

   If a PCE is handling path computation requests for end-to-end 
   wavelength services within the WSON, then the complexity of the 
   network and number of service path computation requests being sent to 
   the PCE may have an impact on the PCEs ability to process requests in 
   a timely manner.   

6. Security Considerations 

   This document has no requirement for a change to the security models 
   within GMPLS and associated protocols. That is the OSPF-TE, RSVP-TE, 
   and PCEP security models could be operated unchanged.  
    
   However satisfying the requirements for RWA using the existing 
   protocols may significantly affect the loading of those protocols. 
   This makes the operation of the network more vulnerable to denial of 
   service attacks. Therefore additional care maybe required to ensure 
   that the protocols are secure in the WSON environment.  
    
   Furthermore the additional information distributed in order to 
   address the RWA problem represents a disclosure of network 
   capabilities that an operator may wish to keep private. Consideration 
   should be given to securing this information.  

7. IANA Considerations 

   This document makes no request for IANA actions. 

8. Acknowledgments 

   The authors would like to thank Adrian Farrel for many helpful 
   comments that greatly improved the contents of this draft. 
     

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9. References 

9.1. Normative References 

   [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 
             Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. 

   [RFC3471] Berger, L., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching 
             (GMPLS) Signaling Functional Description", RFC 3471, 
             January 2003. 

   [RFC3630] Katz, D., Kompella, K., and D. Yeung, "Traffic Engineering 
             (TE) Extensions to OSPF Version 2", RFC 3630, September 
             2003. 

   [RFC3945] Mannie, E., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching 
             (GMPLS) Architecture", RFC 3945, October 2004. 

   [RFC4201] Kompella, K., Rekhter, Y., and L. Berger, "Link Bundling in 
             MPLS Traffic Engineering (TE)", RFC 4201, October 2005. 

   [RFC4202] Kompella, K. and Y. Rekhter, "Routing Extensions in Support 
             of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)", RFC 
             4202, October 2005. 

   [RFC4203] Kompella, K. and Y. Rekhter, "OSPF Extensions in Support of 
             Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)", RFC 
             4203, October 2005. 

   [RFC4328] Papadimitriou, D., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label 
             Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Extensions for G.709 Optical 
             Transport Networks Control", RFC 4328, January 2006. 

   [G.694.1] ITU-T Recommendation G.694.1, "Spectral grids for WDM 
             applications: DWDM frequency grid", June, 2002. 

   [DISCO]  J.L. Le Roux, J.P. Vasseur, Yuichi Ikejiri, and Raymond 
             Zhang, "OSPF protocol extensions for Path Computation 
             Element (PCE) Discovery", work in progress, draft-ietf-pce-
             disco-proto-ospf-07.txt, September 2007. 

   [PCE-GCO] Y. Lee, J.L. Le Roux, D. King, and E. Oki, "Path 
             Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCECP) 
             Requirements and Protocol Extensions In Support of Global 
             Concurrent Optimization", work in progress, draft-ietf-pce 
             global-concurrent-optimization-00.txt, June 2007.  


     

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   [PCEP]    J.P. Vasseur and J.L. Le Roux (Editors), "Path Computation 
             Element (PCE) Communication Protocol (PCEP)", work in 
             progress, draft-ietf-pce-pcep-08.txt, July 2007.  

   [PCE-OF] J.L. Le Roux, J.P. Vasseur, and Y. Lee, "Encoding of 
             Objective Functions in Path Computation Element (PCE) 
             communication and discovery protocols", work in progress, 
             draft-leroux-pce-of-01.txt, July 2007. 

9.2. Informative References 

   [HZang00] H. Zang, J. Jue and B. Mukherjeee, "A review of routing and 
             wavelength assignment approaches for wavelength-routed 
             optical WDM networks", Optical Networks Magazine, January 
             2000. 

   [Coldren04]    Larry A. Coldren, G. A. Fish, Y. Akulova, J. S. 
             Barton, L. Johansson and C. W. Coldren, "Tunable 
             Seiconductor Lasers: A Tutorial", Journal of Lightwave 
             Technology, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 193-202, January 2004. 

   [Chu03]   Xiaowen Chu, Bo Li and Chlamtac I, "Wavelength converter 
             placement under different RWA algorithms in wavelength-
             routed all-optical networks", IEEE Transactions on 
             Communications, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 607-617, April 2003. 

   [Buus06]    Jens Buus EJM, "Tunable Lasers in Optical Networks", 
             Journal of Lightware Technology, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5-11, 
             January 2006. 

   [Basch06] E. Bert Bash, Roman Egorov, Steven Gringeri and Stuart 
             Elby, "Architectural Tradeoffs for Reconfigurable Dense 
             Wavelength-Division Multiplexing Systems", IEEE Journal of 
             Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 
             615-626, July/August 2006. 

   [Otani]  T. Otani, H. Guo, K. Miyazaki, D. Caviglia, "Generalized 
             Labels of Lambda-Switching Capable Label Switching Routers 
             (LSR)", work in progress: draft-otani-ccamp-gmpls-lambda-
             labels-00.txt, June 2007. 

   [Winzer06]    Peter J. Winzer and Rene-Jean Essiambre, "Advanced 
             Optical Modulation Formats", Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 
             94, no. 5, pp. 952-985, May 2006. 

   [G.652] ITU-T Recommendation G.652, Characteristics of a single-mode 
             optical fibre and cable, June 2005.  

     

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   [G.653] ITU-T Recommendation G.653, Characteristics of a dispersion-
             shifted single-mode optical fibre and cable, December 2006. 

   [G.654] ITU-T Recommendation G.654, Characteristics of a cut-off 
             shifted single-mode optical fibre and cable, December 2006. 

   [G.655] ITU-T Recommendation G.655, Characteristics of a non-zero 
             dispersion-shifted single-mode optical fibre and cable, 
             March 2006. 

   [G.656] ITU-T Recommendation G.656, Characteristics of a fibre and 
             cable with non-zero dispersion for wideband optical 
             transport, December 2006. 

   [G.959.1] ITU-T Recommendation G.959.1, Optical Transport Network 
             Physical Layer Interfaces, March 2006. 

   [G.694.1] ITU-T Recommendation G.694.1, Spectral grids for WDM 
             applications: DWDM frequency grid, June 2002. 

   [G.694.2] ITU-T Recommendation G.694.2, Spectral grids for WDM 
             applications: CWDM wavelength grid, December 2003. 

   [G.Sup43] ITU-T Series G Supplement 43, Transport of IEEE 10G base-R 
             in optical transport networks (OTN), November 2006. 

   [Imajuku] W. Imajuku, Y. Sone, I. Nishioka, S. Seno, "Routing 
             Extensions to Support Network Elements with Switching 
             Constraint", work in progress: draft-imajuku-ccamp-rtg-
             switching-constraint-02.txt, July 2007. 

   [RFC4054] Strand, J. and  A. Chiu, "Impairments and Other Constraints 
             on Optical Layer Routing", RFC 4054, May 2005. 

   [RFC4606] Mannie, E. and D. Papadimitriou, "Generalized Multi-
             Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Extensions for Synchronous 
             Optical Network (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy 
             (SDH) Control", RFC 4606, August 2006. 










     

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10. Contributors 

   Snigdho Bardalai 
   Fujitsu 
   Email: Snigdho.Bardalai@us.fujitsu.com 
    
   Diego Caviglia  
   Ericsson 
   Via A. Negrone 1/A 16153 
   Genoa Italy 
    
   Phone: +39 010 600 3736 
   Email: diego.caviglia@(marconi.com, ericsson.com) 
    
   Daniel King 
   Aria Networks 
   Email: daniel.king@aria-networks.com 
    
   Itaru Nishioka 
   NEC Corp. 
   1753 Simonumabe, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-8666 
   Japan 
   Phone: +81 44 396 3287 
   Email: i-nishioka@cb.jp.nec.com 
    
   Lyndon Ong 
   Ciena 
   Email: Lyong@Ciena.com 
    
   Jonathan Sadler 
   Tellabs 
   Email: Jonathan.Sadler@tellabs.com 
    
Author's Addresses 

   Greg Bernstein (ed.) 
   Grotto Networking 
   Fremont, CA, USA 
       
   Phone: (510) 573-2237 
   Email: gregb@grotto-networking.com 
    






     

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   Young Lee (ed.) 
   Huawei Technologies 
   1700 Alma Drive, Suite 100 
   Plano, TX 75075 
   USA 
    
   Phone: (972) 509-5599 (x2240) 
   Email: ylee@huawei.com 
    
    
   Wataru Imajuku 
   NTT Network Innovation Labs 
   1-1 Hikari-no-oka, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 
   Japan 
    
   Phone: +81-(46) 859-4315 
   Email: imajuku.wataru@lab.ntt.co.jp 
    
    
 

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Disclaimer of Validity 

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