Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm for Physical Topology Design and Device Specifications of All-Optical Networks

In this paper we propose a methodology based on an evolutionary multiobjective optimization algorithm for all-optical network topology design. The aim is to define the topology layout and the specification of the optical devices that should be deployed in the network in order to minimize simultaneously the total installation cost of a communication network (capital cost) and the total network blocking probability (performance criteria). To accomplish that, we propose a capital cost model for the network. We considered the following physical layer impairments: losses in optical devices, amplified spontaneous emission in optical amplifier and homodyne crosstalk in optical cross connect (OXC), polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and residual dispersion (RD). The multiobjective optimization evolutionary algorithm used in the optimization process is the NSGA-II. Our proposed methodology can solve the network topology design problem taking into account the physical layer impairments and the capital costs simultaneously. We also present a case study to show the effectiveness of our methodology considering uniform and non-uniform network traffic.