Survivable network architectures for broad-band fiber optic networks: model and performance comparison

Abstract

A class of survivable network architectures and a fiber network design model to study quantitative tradeoffs between cost and survivability for each candidate network architecture are discussed. The network architectures studied fall into two categories: conventional architectures are those using present and future technologies, respectively. The model network used in this study is a metropolitan intralocal access transport area (LATA) network. For the near term, the study show that a 'single homing' architecture with 1:N diverse protection provides affordable survivability for fiber cable cuts. The percentage of model circuits protected from link failures is raised from 50%-72% for only 6.3% increase in cost. For future architectures, the self-healing rings could both improve survivability and reduce costs.