Evaluation of Bandwidth-Dependent Metrics for TE Links in a GMPLS Path Computation System

Abstract

The GMPLS standardization is paving the way for the implementation of new configurable traffic engineering (TE) policies for transport networks. This paper takes aim at evaluating the effects of using bandwidth-dependent TE metrics in a centralized Path Computation System (PCS), suited for handling the routing requests in an operational transport network with a GMPLS control plane. The results of an intensive testing campaign show an evident improvement in the utilization of network resources when such TE metrics are enabled, whatever survivability requirement is imposed on the LSP (e.g. classical 1+1 protection, pre-planned or On-the-Fly restoration, etc.). Moreover, a simple policy function is suggested as a good trade-off between the achievable performance and the computing load on CPU.