Optical Communication Layer Graphs for Frequency Slot Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Determining optimal routes in optical communication networks to satisfy a set of demands is an NP-hard problem, becoming intractable as the network size or number of demands increases, leading to inefficiencies in frequency slot usage and network capacity.
Innovation Solution
A network management system constructs layer graphs from a network graph representing the optical communication network, using available frequency slots to identify efficient paths that minimize conflicts and maximize available frequency slot usage, thereby optimizing route assignments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional routing algorithms are used to determine optimal paths in optical communication networks, then route assignment can be achieved, but the computational complexity becomes intractable as network size or number of demands increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the frequency spectrum into discrete frequency slots and creates layer graphs where each layer corresponds to a specific frequency slot. This segmentation transforms the continuous spectrum allocation problem into discrete path selection across multiple layers, making the NP-hard problem computationally tractable by breaking it into manageable sub-problems that can be solved using graph algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension by constructing layer graphs where the vertical dimension represents frequency slots and the horizontal dimension represents network paths. This dimensional transformation allows the system to visualize and compute route-frequency assignments in a multi-dimensional space, enabling efficient identification of non-conflicting paths across different frequency layers without exhaustive search.
2Productivity
If more frequency slots are allocated to satisfy increased demands, then network capacity increases, but conflicts between overlapping frequency slots increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces layer graphs as an intermediary structure that mediates between network demands and frequency slot allocations. Each layer graph represents a specific frequency slot and shows which paths are available without conflicts. This intermediary representation allows the system to identify compatible path-frequency assignments and allocate multiple frequency slots to different paths systematically, preventing overlaps and conflicts while maximizing network capacity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the network tries to satisfy all demands using available routes, then demand fulfillment increases, but resource utilization becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-computing layer graphs that show all possible path assignments for each frequency slot before actual demand routing occurs. This preliminary structuring of available routes and frequency slots allows the network to quickly match demands with optimal assignments, ensuring high demand fulfillment while avoiding inefficient resource allocation by having pre-organized options to choose from.
Data Source
AI summary
A network management system can be configured to identify routes for satisfying a set of demands on a communications network using layer graph(s). The network management system can generate the layer graph(s) using a network graph that represents the optical communication network and an associated sets of available frequency slots. The network management system can iteratively identify candidate path(s) on the layer graph(s) that correspond to each of the demands and determine a cost for each candidate path. The cost for a candidate path can depend on a set of available edges affected by the selection of the candidate path. In each iteration, the network management system can select the lowest cost candidate path, update the network graph to reflect the selection of this candidate path, update the layer graph(s) based on the updating of the network graph, and update the candidate paths for the remaining demands as needed.