Simple star multihop optical network

Abstract

A new multihop wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical network designed for uniform traffic with two wavelengths per node that can give the maximum throughput and minimum delay is proposed. It is called a "Simple Star" multihop optical network. This network has good characteristics in traffic balance and small average number of hops. Moreover, Simple Star can be used together with multiple star couplers to reduce the number of wavelength used. Furthermore, unlike most existing networks, this network does not impose an upper limit to the number of nodes. Another interesting pattern is Simple Star with Center Node (Simple Star CN) particularly for prime numbers of nodes. It can be shown that the average number of hops of Simple Star (normal plus CN) is in between those of Shufflenet and Kautz, but the throughput and delay are better. An associated network called Simple Star Shared Channel (Simple Star SC) for two transceivers per node is also presented and it can be used together with multiple star couplers to reduce the number of wavelengths. An example of a 16-node Simple Star SC shows that the number of wavelengths used can be 8 times less than that in the normal Simple Star network. The Shared Channel simulation model is based on the concept of CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection).