JOURNAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, VOLUME 30, ISSUE 2, JUNE 2015

QoT Aware Dynamic Routing and Wavelength

Assignment Technique using Fuzzy Logic
Controller in WDM Networks
Debajyoti Mishra and Dr. Urmila Bhanja
Abstract Quality of Transmission (QoT) in a dynamic routing and wavelength assignment (DRWA) problem is a major or a challenging
issue in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) high speed transparent optical network. This paper proposes a novel QoT aware dynamic
routing and wavelength assignment technique using fuzzy logic controller, which incorporates certain significant QoT parameters into account
for the lightpath establishment refered in this work as QoT-aware-FDRWA. The heart of the algorithm is a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) that
includes QoT parameters such as optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR), free channel availability (FCA) and hop count (HC) of different
lightpaths as inputs for computation of the optimal lightpath output for a request establishment. In the proposed work, linear impairments such
as polarized mode dispersion (PMD), amplified spontaneous emission noise (ASE), switch crosstalk (SC), and demultiplexer crosstalk (DC)
are taken into consideration. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is judged by the improvement of the average blocking probability.
Index Terms DRWA, Fuzzy Logic Controller, FCA, OSNR, Polarized Mode Dispersion, Routing, Wavelength Division Multiplexing

1 INTRODUCTION
Transparent optical networks are the recent technological
advancement for supporting huge traffic in the future
communication networks. To transfer data in wavelength
routed optical network, a lightpath must be established
between source-destination pair by a Routing and Wave-
length Assignment (RWA) technique . A lightpath is an
all optical communication channel between two nodes,
which may consist of one or more fiber links. The com-
plexity arises for selection of lightpath with appropriate
wavelength between pair of nodes in the network. Wave-
length continuity is a common problem in wavelength
routed networks, where every link in the lightpath must
share a free common wavelength. A proper RWA scheme
must be implemented in order to avoid blocking in future
connection requests. As the optical signal from the source
node propagates along a lightpath in an all optical trans-
parent wavelength routed network towards the destina-
tion node, the quality of signal degrades as there is no
OEO (Optical-Electronic-Optical) conversion and there-
fore, the Bit Error Rate (BER) of the signal increases or
OSNR decreases. OSNR below the threshold level is un-
acceptable by the user. Again, it is not acceptable if estab-
lishment of a lightpath decreases the OSNR of other exist-
ing lightpath. RWA technique added with physical layer
impairment constraints is much more practical for
lightpath establishment and is called quality of transmis-
sion aware routing and wavelength assignment tech-

niques (QoT-aware-RWA) [1-7], [9-10].

The RWA problem is known to be NP-complete [1], [19].
Out of the two existing types of RWA problems, the dy-
namic RWA (DRWA) problem, is more challenging, and
has been widely investigated in the literature. Currently,
high-speed networks are expected to support a wide
range of multimedia applications. In case of DRWA, the
connection requests are dynamic and holding time is ex-
ponentially distributed [1-7].QoT-aware-DRWA in trans-
parent optical network is a complex problem, where both
impairments in the lightpath and RWA are integrated to
find optimal lightpath. In a lightpath when signal propa-
gate through different non-ideal optical devices used in
transparent wavelength routed network, such as optical
amplifier, OXCs, multiplexors, demultiplexer and fiber
segments different type of linear and non-linear impair-
ments are accumulated at different nodes along the
lightpath and at the destination node, the signal is worst
affected and contaminated with noise, which may be un-
acceptable by the user due to high bit error rate (BER) [1-
7], [9-10]. Linear, and nonlinear impairments such as
node crosstalk, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)
noise, fiber chromatic dispersion (CD), and polarization
mode dispersion (PMD), four wave mixing (FWM), and
inter symbol interference are generated by the non-ideal
optical devices used in transparent wavelength routed
network along the lightpath [1-7] , [9-11]. Out of various
linear impairments, node crosstalk and ASE noise de-
Assistant Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, India,
grade the signal quality even at low transmission power
759145.
Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, India, and low data rate. Due to these impairments, the received
759145.
signal quality may become so poor that the BER reaches
an unacceptably high value, rendering the light-path un-

usable [3-5]. Noise is also generated due signal leakage at

OXCs known switch crosstalk (SC) or imperfect filtering
in demultiplexer known as demultiplexer crosstalk (DC).
PMD arises due to the geometry and composition of fiber
i.e. containing impurities. non-circularity or subjected to
external stress like heating. These types of non-uniformity
or irregularities render obstacle to an optical pulse along
its path. These obstacles cause different polarization of
the optical signal to travel with different group velocities
resulting in pulse spread in frequency domain known as
PMD [7], [10]. As the channel bit rate increases beyond 10
Gb/s, PMD becomes one of the limiting factor high-speed
data transmission network. PMD strongly affects the
transparent transmission length [7], [10].Therefore, it is
necessary to consider these four physical layer con-
straints, like ASE, SC, DC and PMD while solving the
dynamic routing and wavelength assignment (DRWA)
problem in transparent optical networks. In this work, the
above four linear impairments are taken into considera-
tion for lightpath establishment in transparent wave-
length routed network using a fuzzy logic controller
(FLC) refered in this work as QoT-aware-FDRWA.
In addition to the QoT parameters, this work also at-
tempts to incoprporate the Quality of Service (QoS) pa-
rameters like Free Channel Availability (FCA) and num-
ber of hops that affects the quality of signal indirectly at
the destination for improvement of performance metric
such as network throughput, and blocking probability.
The inclusion of both QoT and QoS parameters in the
DRWA problem in the proposed algorithm makes the
DRWA problem more complex [3-5]. Very few research
works has been carried out, considering fuzzy approach
for the lightpath establishment in QoS aware-DRWA
technique.The authors try to improve the blocking proba-
bility and minimizing the average number of hops in the
work, where the inputs to fuzzy systems are traffic load
and number of hops [12]. In a recent research paper, the
authors designed a Fuzzy Rule Based System (FRBS) to
establish a RWA scheme using Generalized Multiprotocol
Label Switching (GMPLS) over WDM network, where the
inputs to fuzzy systems are request bandwidth, average
utilization of each wavelength and co-efficient of data
traffic and output determines the probability of successful
connection [13]. The authors proposed a novel algorithm,
which allows the network to adopt the real time traffic
change and ensure the network survival using FLC [13].
In all the above mentioned papers, the algorithm imple-
ment fuzzy logic on the network parameters, but ignor
the physical layer impairments. Ample of works are
available in the literature [1-2], [6-7], [9-10], [16-18] on
QoT aware DRWA problem using classical approach,
which incorporates specific types of physical layer im-
pairments into the account. However, very few papers are
available, which implement metaheuristic algorithms like
GA (Genetic Algorithm), Evolutionary Programming
(EP), Fuzzy Inference System (FIS), Ant Colony Optimiza-
tion (ACO) to find a solution to the QoT aware DRWA
problem [3-5], [11-15]. The authors consider two linear
impairments like PMD and ASE noise and find solution
the problem using the genetic algorithm (GA) based ap-

proach. The authors have attempted to minimize the

number of wavelength converters and PMD compensat-
ing devices. But, although this paper considers PMD, the
effect of which is observed only for data rates beyond
40Gbps, important linear impairments like node cross-
talk, which can occur at low or moderate data rates, are
not taken into account [11]. In some other papers, the au-
thors have used ant colony optimization (ACO) technique
to solve a specific type of impairment aware RWA prob-
lem, known as RWA with power constraints (RWA-P)
that maintains an acceptable level of optical power and
adequate signal to noise ratio (SNR) all over the network.
In this work, authors have tried to minimize the aggre-
gate power in each link so as to minimize the effect of
non-linearity on the network. While calculating the pow-
er, only the ASE noise is taken into consideration [14].
The authors also propose an extension of their approach
to find a lightpath in a distributed generalized multipro-
tocol label switching (GMPLS) network [15]. In both [14]
and [15], the authors have neglected the effect of node
crosstalk while setting up a lightpath. In a recent research
paper, the authors tried to implement a EP based algo-
rithm, where a attempt is made to minimize the blocking
probability and average execution time, taking the im-
pairments like ASE, SC and DC into account at the data
rate of 2.5 Gbps, but the effect of PMD on signal quality is
not considered, which affect the signal quality beyond 10
Gbps [3]. Currently, the authors solve a DRWA problem
using fuzzy logic controller incorporating only QoS pa-
rameters and neglect the QoT parameters [12-13].

In this proposed work, a novel fuzzy based algorithm is
developed at the bit rate of 40 Gbps, which takes both
QoT parameters like ASE, PMD, SC and DC and QoS pa-
rameters like FCA, Hop Count into account. ASE is de-
veloped due to the amplification by Erbium Doped Fiber
Amplifier (EDFA), PMD is developed as the optical signal
travel with different group velocity due to different polar-
ization. SC is generated due to power leakage at OXCs
and DC is generated due to imperfect channel isolation in
the filters at the demultiplexer. In the proposed algorithm
k probable lightpaths with wavelength continuity are
selected and three parameters are computed for each of
the lightpath i.e. FCA, Hop Count and OSNR at the desti-
nation node. These three parameters are exported as in-
puts to Fuzzy Rule Based System (FRBS) for selecting op-
timal lightpath and improving connectivity of future re-
quests.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows:
Section 2 introduces the problem definition and system
model. Section 3 describes the proposed algorithm (QoT-
aware FDRWA). Section 4 describes the simulation re-
sults. Finally, section 5 concludes the paper.

2 PROBLEM DEFINITIONS AND THE SYSTEM

MODEL
2.1 Problem Definition
A QoT aware fuzzy dynamic routing and wavelength
assignment (QoT aware DRWA) problem is a call admission problem where, lightpath requests are initiated dynamically. A lightpath is a path in the network
that satisfies the wavelength continuity constraint that
is the same wavelength must be assigned on each link
of the path that a lightpath traverses. Each lightpath is
assumed to be defined by three network specific parameters S, D, Th which represent the source node, destination node and the holding time respectively. The
holding time defines the time period during which a
lightpath and the associated resources remain engaged. Once the holding time expires, the resources
become free to serve other lightpath requests. During
lightpath establishment, care has been taken to ensure
that the QoT parameters such as number of available
free wavelengths/channels (FCA), number of hops
and OSNR are fuzzified and are incorporated in the
algorithm.
2.2 Network Model
The network under study is a transparent optical network of N nodes that can be modeled as a graph G (V, E),
where V and E respectively represent the set of nodes
and the set of bidirectional network links. A total of W
equally spaced wavelengths are assumed to be available
per fiber. Each wavelength routing node (WRN) consists
of a cross connect switch (XCS), transmitter and receiver
arrays, optical taps and EDFAs as shown in Fig. 1 [2].

ate node. Arrays of transmitters and receivers are present

in each node for locally adding or dropping the traffic.
PMD emulators are present in between the links that take
care the effect of PMD on the signal that traverse to the
destination node.

Fig.2: The model of a transmission lightpath [2]

2.3 Assumptions and System Description

In order to test the efficacy of the proposed algorithm, the
WRS technology used in the proposed model is assumed
to have a high crosstalk ratio of -30 dB [2, 3]. The EDFA
used in the network model, while providing signal am-
plification tends to generate ASE noise. In the network
model adopted, all the EDFAs are assumed to have a flat
gain spectrum as the wavelength spectrum used ranges
from 1544.5 nm to 1556.5nm. The EDFA gain saturation is
assumed to be absent; hence, the EDFAs are always able
to deliver the desired small signal gain irrespective of the
input signal power and the signal wavelength. The de-
multiplexers present in the XCSs are assumed to be non-
ideal and it is assumed that signals having adjacent
wavelengths, while passing through a demultiplexer,
experience leakage. The signaling in this work is assumed to use on-off keying (OOK). The receiver is modeled as a square law detector followed by a filter [2-5].
2.4 Routing Model

Fig.1: Architecture of a wavelength routing node (WRN) [2]

A transmission lightpath follows the model illustrated in

Fig. 2. No inline amplifiers are assumed to be there
throughout the lightpath. The span length in the proposed model varies from 30 km to 90 km. A tap is present
at the input and output of each XCS to monitor the signal
condition. The EDFA at the input side compensates for
the fiber loss and the tap loss and the EDFA at the output
side compensates for the switch loss. In Fig.2, WRN (1)
represents the source node, WRN (m) represents the destination node, and WRN (k) represents the kth intermedi-

In the proposed routing model a variable Iijlp is used,

which describes a link (i, j) used by the lightpath lp.
When the link (i, j) is used by the lightpathlp, Iijlp=1;
otherwise, Iijlp=0. This is considered to be a positive
variable when the lightpath link leaves the node, and
negative in the opposite case. A lightpath from the
source S to the destination D is represented as path (lp)
and is a collection of all the links belonging to the
lightpath from S to D. The number of available wavelength or channel for a path (FLC), hop count for a
path, and OSNR(dB) for a path are fuzzified by the
FRBS to yield the cost of a lightpath (lp) referred in
this work as cost. LP is the set of all the lightpaths. In
the proposed algorithm, dijkstras shortest path routing and different wavelength assignment approaches
are integrated [19-21].
Objective function:
Here the objective is to dynamically find a cost optimal or sub optimal lightpath.

2015 JOT
www.journaloftelecommunications.co.uk

4
W 1

Lightpath conservation constraint [3-5], [19-21]:

lp
ij

( i , j )E

lp
ji

= 1, if i = S , lp LP

lp
ij

ij

( i , j )E

( i , j )E

lp

ji

ji

(1a)

= 1, if i = D, lp LP

ij

ij

lp

w=0 x

lp ( x , y ) ( x , y )
ijw

W 1

lp ( y , x ) ( y , x )
I ijw
l
= I ijlp , y = i
w=0 x

lp ( x , y ) ( x , y )
ijw

W 1

lp ( y , x ) ( y , x )
I ijw
l
= 0, y i , y j
w=0 x

2(d)

( j ,i )E

lp

1, if i D , lp LP

lp

= 0, if i = D , lp LP

i j
( i , j )E

(1b)
The constraint (1a) guarantees that the solutions obtained are valid paths from S to D. The first part of the
constraint (1a) ensures that for each pair of source and
destination node only one lightpath exists from source
node S. The second part of the constraint (1a) ensures
that for each pair of source and destination nodes only
one lightpath reaches the destination node D. Third part
of the constraint (1a) ensures that a path that reaches an
intermediate node also exits that node through another
link. The constraint (1b) ensures that the lightpath is
without any loops [3-5],[ 19-21].

2.5 Wavelength Constraint Model

Three different wavelength assignment approaches FirstFit (FF), Round Robin (RR), and Random (R) techniques
are used and compared in terms of their performances
[19- 21]. First the following variables are defined: Iijlp as
defined earlier tells whether a given link belongs to a
lightpath; Iijwlp is the lightpath wavelength indicator to
show that the lightpath uses wavelength W on link (i, j);
Iijwlp(x, y) is the lightpath wavelength link indicator that is
one when a lightpath uses wavelength w on link (i, j)
between nodes x and y; and l(x, y) is the physical link between nodes x and y. The wavelength assignment constraints are mentioned as below [21]:
W 1

lp
I ijlp = I ijw
(i , j )

2(a)

w=0

lp ( x , y )
lp
I ijw
I ijw
(i, j ), ( x, y ), w

2(b)
lp ( x , y )
ijw

W 1

lp ( y , x ) ( y , x )
I ijw
l
= I ijlp , y = j

= 0, if i S , i D, lp LP

i j
( i , j )E

W 1

w=0 x

Constraint to ensure that the lightpath is without loops [3-5],[19-21]:

w=0 x

( j ,i )E

lp

lp ( x , y ) ( x , y )
ijw

w=0 x

W 1

( j ,i )E

1( x, y ), w

i, j

2(c)

Equation 2(a) implies that the wavelength used by a

lightpath is unique. Equation 2(b) ensures that the wavelength continuity constraint is adhered to. Equation 2(c)
ensures that two lightpaths using the same link cannot
be assigned identical wavelengths. Equation 2(d) expresses the conservation of wavelengths at the end nodes
of physical links on a lightpath [21].

2.6 PMD Evaluation Model

The linear impairment that affects the channel mostly at
higher data rate of 40 Gbps or beyond is the polarized
mode dispersion. In this work, the effect of PMD is taken
into consideration.Fig. 3 (a) represents the optisystem
network model of the proposed work. Fig. 3 (b) repre-
sents the subsystem model that is used in the optisystem
network model of the proposed work. The effect of PMD
on a signal at a data rate of 40 Gbps is shown in figures
3(c) to 3(f) both in time domain as well as in frequency
domain respectively using the optisystem software.
The comparison of figures between 3(c) and 3(d) below
clearly show that there is a time delay in the time domain
after the signal passes through the PMD emulator. The
comparison of figures between 3(e) and 3(f) clearly show
that there is a spreading in the frequency domain after the
signal passes through the PMD emulator. The input pow-
er of the signal is kept fixed at 0 dBm, wavelength varies
from 1544.5 to 1556.5 as shown in table 3, data rate is
fixed at 40 Gbps, link length is kept fixed at 36 km, and
differential group delay is fixed at 0.13 ps/sqrt (km) as per
the simulation parameters in this work.

3. Proposed Algorithm

Figure 4 below depict the block diagram of the proposed
QoT-aware-FDRWA respectively. The following steps
sequentially describe the algorithm.

Step 1: A call request arrival is assumed to follow a Pois-
son distribution. Source-destination pair follow a uniform
random distribution and holding time follows (exponen-
tial/ pareto) distribution [2-5], [19].Numbers of possible
paths using dijkstras shortest path algorithm are gener-
ated [22]. A path in this work is defined as the collection
of physically connected links from a source to a destina-
tion.
Step 2: Each of these paths is checked with the availabil-
ity of free wavelengths or channels (FCA).Different wave-

length assignment techniques such as First Fit, Round

Robin and Random wavelength assignment techniques
are utilized to check the wavelength continuous paths or
to check the wavelength constraints of the path [20-21].
The calls corresponding to the paths that do not satisfy
the wavelength constraints are blocked. The wavelength
continuous paths are further evaluated to estimate the
threshold values of the PMD and OSNR constraints re-
spectively. The calls corresponding to the lightpaths that
do not satisfy both the PMD and the OSNR constraints at
the destination node respectively are blocked. The paths
that satisfy the wavelength constraint at the network lay-
er and both the PMD and OSNR constraints at the physi-
cal layer are fuzzified by a fuzzy logic controller (FLC).
Step 3: The QoS and QoT parameters such as free channel
availability (FCA), number of hop count and OSNR of the
paths that satisfy both the physical layer and network
layer constraints are passed serially through a FLC or a
FRBS for fuzzification. The inputs to the fuzzy rule based
inference system (FRBS) are fuzzified by triangular mem-
bership function with three fuzzy sets identified by lin-
guistic variables such as excellent, very good and good.
Similarly, the output space is divided into four fuzzy sets
with triangular membership function and the linguistic
variables attached are excellent, very good, good, and
poor. Figs. 5(a), 5(b), and 5(c) respectively show the
membership functions of inputs such as OSNR (dB), free
wavelength/channel availability (FCA), and hop count
and fig. 5(d) represents the membership function of the
output variable such as cost of the lightpath referred as
cost in this work.
Step 4: Table-1 below shows the details of input values
such as OSNR (dB), free wavelength/channel availability
(FCA), and hop count with specified ranges. OSNR is
chosen to be limited between 13 to 30 as it is seen that
OSNR (dB) of value equal to 13.1 corresponds to a quality
factor (Q-factor) equals to 6.8, which is equivalent to a bit
error rate of 10-12.Number of wavelengths considered in
this work is sixteen and therefore, the range for FCA in
this work is limited between one to sixteen.
Step 5: All the twenty seven rules are developed for the
FRBS as described below in Table-2. In the proposed
fuzzy system, Mamdani minimum interference engine,
triangular fuzzifier and center average defuzzifier are
used [23].After defuzzification, the crisp output obtained
describes the cost function of the lightpath (cost). After
defuzzification, the minimum cost path is selected be-
tween the requested source and destination pair.
All the previous steps are repeated for different network
loads and one lakh requests.
In Table-2, the linguistic variables for input parameters
are 1) Excellent (E) 2) very good (VG) 3) Poor (P)
In Table-2, the linguistic variables for output parameters
are 1) Excellent (E) 2) very good (VG) 3) good (G) 4) Poor
(P)

Example: IF OSNR is good and FCA is excellent and Link

Length is good THEN Cost is very good.
Table 1: Linguistic Variable Information
Serial
Number

Name

Type

Range
(per
path)

Membership
function

1
2

OSNR (dB)
Free Chan-
nel
Availability

Input
Input

13-30
1-16

Triangular
Triangular

3
4

Hop Count
Cost

Input
Output

1-7
0-1

Triangular
Triangular

Table 2: Twenty Seven Fuzzy Rules

RULES

OSNR
(dB)

FCA

HOP
COUNT

COST

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

VG

10

VG

11

VG

VG

VG

12

VG

VG

13

VG

VG

VG

14

VG

VG

VG

VG

15

VG

VG

16

VG

VG

17

VG

VG

18

VG

19

20

VG

VG

21

VG

22

VG

VG

23

VG

VG

VG

24

VG

25

VG

26

VG

27

Table 3: System Parameters used in the simulation [23], [7], [10]

Parameter

Values

Wavelength (nm)

1544.5 to1556.5

Number of Wavelength

Channel spacing (nm)

Sixteen

0.8

Channel bit rate (B)

40 Gbps

Signal power per channel (mW)

Electronic bandwidth (

ASE factor (

90 GHz

- 4 dB

Demultiplexer loss (

- 4 dB

Switch loss (

- 8 dB

- 0.2 dB/km

Input EDFA gain (

18 dB

Output EDFA gain (

14 dB

Loss of tap (

- 1 dB

Switch crosstalk ratio (

- 30 dB

Adjacent wavelength rejection

ratio (

Fig. 3(c) Signals in the time domain before passing through the
PMD emulator

1.5

Multiplexer loss (

Fiber loss (

1
30 GHz

Optical bandwidth (

-30 dB

Fiber PMD Parameter (

0.13 ps/

Fig. 3(d) Signals in the time domain after passing through the
PMD emulator (shows delay)

(k))
Fiber Pulse broadening (

0.1

OSNR threshold
13.09 dB (for BER=
)

Fig. 3(e) Signals in the frequency domain before passing through

the PMD emulator

Fig. 3(a) Network model using optisystem simulation

Fig. 3(b) Representation of subsystem using optisystem

Fig. 3(f) Signals in the frequency domain after passing through the
PMD emulator (shows spreading)

TRAFFIC

IN-

CALL

FORMATION

REQUEST

NETWORK LAYER
Generation of Sourcedestination
pair
FF

Five Paths are generated using Dijkstras minimum path algorithm.

RR

ASSIGNMENT TECHNIQUE

N Paths out of five paths satisfying

WCC.

N=0
M=0

Each

or

set

of

Path with minimum

input

OSNR , FCC & HC of each

(OSNR, FCA, HC) of

of the M path are stored.

each of M path is serial-

defuzzified value is
selected for establishment of LP

ly passed to FLC as
input parameters.

Request Blocked

PHYSICAL LAYER

PMD CONSTRAINT
M paths out of N paths satisfying the

OSNR CONSTRAINT

PMD & OSNR constraints.

Fig.4. Integrated block diagram of QoT-Aware-FDRWA

1

Good
Very good
Excellent

Membership degree

Membership degree

1
0.8
0.6
0.4

0.6
0.4
0.2

0.2
0
12

Good
Very good
Excellent

0.8

0
0

14

16

18

20

22

OSNR (dB)

24

26

28

30

10

Free Channel Availability

12

14

16

Fig. 5(b) Membership function of FCA

Fig. 5(a) Membership function of OSNR (dB)
1

Excellent
Very good
Good

0.6

Membership degree

Membership degree

1
0.8

0.4
0.2
0
1

Hop Count

Fig. 5(c) Membership function of Hop Count (HC)

0.8
0.6

Excellent
Very good
Good
Poor

0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4

Cost

0.6

0.8

Fig. 5(d) Membership function of the output (Cost)

Avg. Blocking Probability

In this work, a MATLAB Version of 7.5 with Intel (R)
Core-Duo CPU (3.3 GHz) is used for simulation. In this
paper, a 23 node topology is used as shown in figure.7,
which has 40 bi-directional links [23].
Network or traffic load in the proposed model indicates
the duration of time a network remains busy and is de-
fined as mean arrival rate x mean holding time of connec-
tion requests. It is measured in erlang. Mean blocking
probability is defined as the number of requests blocked
divided by total number of requests processed. A connec-
tion request is said to be blocked when a wavelength con-
tinuous route is not found. Mean execution time is esti-
mated as total simulation time divided by total number of
requests processed.The experiment is carried out for
fuzzy controlled mechanisms (with FLC), two types of
holding times (exponential, pareto) and for various wave-
length assignment techniques (FF, RR, R) to estimate dif-
ferent network related QoT parameters. Following steps
are carried out for the proposed QoT-aware FDRWA. The
algorithm is simulated for eight different network loads
i.e. 20 erlangs to 160 erlangs and for 100000 call requests.
For all the network loads the mean holding time is kept
constant (0.5) and mean arrival rate is varied to meet the
desired network load conditions. Different network relat-
ed QoT performance metrics are evaluated for each of the
network loads. Each of these network parameters is plot-
ted versus network load with exponential and pareto
holding times and for various wavelength assignment
techniques. Figures below show the details of the simula-
tion results.
Fig.6 below shows the graph of the average blocking
probability vs. traffic load for exponential and Pareto
holding times respectively for different wavelength as-
signment techniques such as FF, RR, and R.

0.25

0.2

0.15


0.1

0.05

0

20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Traffic Load in Erlang

Fig.6 Average Blocking Probability versus Traffic load
(Erlangs)

It is observed from the graphs that the average blocking
probability increases with increase in network loads for
the proposed QoT-aware FDRWA with different assign-
ment techniques. It is observed from the graph that the
average blocking probability corresponding to exponen-
tial holding time at various network load (from 50 erlangs
to 160 erlangs) is lower in comparison to that of Pareto
holding time and the mean blocking probability at differ-
ent network traffic loads (especially greater than 50 er-
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-RR
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-RR

langs) is lowest for exponential holding time with first-fit

(FF) assignment technique.

27

26

25
24

23

22

21

20
19

20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Traffic Load in Erlang


Fig. 7 Average OSNR (dB) versus Traffic load (Erlangs


The above Fig. 7 depicts the graph of the average OSNR
(dB) vs. traffic load for exponential and Pareto holding
times respectively for different wavelength assignment
techniques. It is observed from the graphs that the aver-
age OSNR (dB) decreases with increase in network loads
for the proposed QoT-aware FDRWA with different as-
signment techniques. It is due to the fact that as the net-
work load increases the number of paths selected for
source node to the destination node for establishment of
lightpath decreases for each request and there is higher
probability that path with lower OSNR is selected. It is
visualized from the plot that the OSNR with exponential
holding time and round robin assignment technique
shows the maximum average OSNR of 27 dB and 24 dB at
lower traffic loads such as at 20 erlang and 40 erlang re-
spectively. As the network load increases, the OSNR con-
verges towards lower value and at network load of 160
erlang, it is found to be approximately a value of 19.6 dB
irrespective of different holding times and different
wavelength assignment techniques.

Fig. 8 below shows the graph of the average blocking
probability due to PLI (physical layer impairment) vs.
traffic load for exponential and Pareto holding times re-
spectively for different wavelength assignment tech-
niques. In this work, the average blocking probability is
computed at the physical layer, incorporating the OSNR
and PMD constraints for each of the traffic
loads.However, the the physical layer constraints are es-
timated after a path satisfies the network layer constraints
such as wavelength continuity constraint (WCC). The
blocking probability increases non-linearly with the net-
work traffic load. As the network load increases, the
number paths/path selected for lightpath establishment
decreases and hence, the probability of blocking due to
the physical layer increases. It can be observed from the
graph that the approximate percentage of blocking due to
the PLI varies from 0.9% to 6.2% from network load of 20
erlangs to network load of 160 erlangs with different type
of holding times (exponential and pareto) and wave-
length assignment techniques. The highest blocking is
observed with pareto distribution holding time and
round robin wavelength assignment technique.

Avg. OSNR (dB)

4. Simulation Results and Analysis

QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-RR
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-RR

Avg. Blocking Probability due to PLI

0.07
0.06

QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Expo-RR
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-FF
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-R
QoT-Aware-FDRWA-Pareto-RR

0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
20

40

60

80
100
Traffic Load in Erlang

120

140

160

Fig. 8 Average Blocking Probability due to PLI versus
Traffic load (Erlangs)

aware FDRWA, which consequently reduce the linear

impairments such as PMD, Switch Crosstalk, ASE noise,
multiplexer crosstalk and hence, improves the quality of
transmission in the WDM optical network [3, 24]. The
remarkable achievement of the proposed QoT-aware
FDRWA is that the average blocking probability is ob-
served to be lower compared to the other research papers
[3, 24].

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the all India council of technical education
(AICTE) for the funding of this research through the research project number. 20/AICTE/RIFD/RPS (POLICYII) 2/2012-13.

Fig.9 3D- plot of input variables (FCA & Hop-Count) vs.
output variable (COST) fixing third input variable
OSNR at 21dB

Above figures shows the surface viewer invoked using
GUI (Graphical User Interface) tool in FIS (Fuzzy Infer-
ence Systems) , Which exhibit the output surface of FIS
stored in a file for any one or two input. It does not alter
the fuzzy system or its FIS structure in any way. Surface
viewer is a read only editor and reflects fuzzy rules. In
this work, there are three inputs (OSNR, FCA, and Hop-
Count) and one output (COST) is passed to FIS. Each of
the above figures shows the surface view of the output
(COST) vs. any other two inputs, keeping third input
fixed at certain value.The fig.9 shows the surface of the
output COST (in Z-Axis) vs. input FCA (in X-Axis) and
Hop-Count (in Y-Axis), fixing the third input, OSNR at
twenty-one. As observed in the plot, there is steep varia-
tion in xz-plane in comparison to yz-plane, as according
to the fuzzy rules higher preference is given to FCA than
Hop-Count. At lower value of Hop-Count (ranging from
3 to1) and at higher value of FCA (ranging from 10 to 16)
the surface started converging towards origin. Finally at
FCA at 14 to16 and Hop-Count at 1, the surface touches
the origin.

6. Conclusion

The proposed QoT-aware FDRWA used in this paper is

certainly powerful, dynamic and efficient as compared to
that of DRWA problem based on evolutionary program-
ming or signaling-based optical control plane(S-OCP)
Daisy network [3, 24]. The minimization of QoT parame-
ter such as minimization of average optical signal to noise
ratio (OSNR), hop count (HC) and free channel availabil-
ity (FCA) are the primary objectives of the proposed QoT-

10

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