Indirect crosstalk-aware routing and wavelength assignment in transparent optical networks with the use of Genetic Algorithms

In transparent optical networks it is critical to consider the impact of the crosstalk effect on the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) process, in order to limit the impact of jamming attacks on the network, as well as the increased cost arising from the need for high port isolation in optical nodes. In this paper, we propose the use of a Genetic Algorithm (GA) that solves the RWA problem with the objective to minimize the in-band and out-of-band crosstalk interactions. The proposed GA algorithm is compared to an Integer Linear Program (ILP) formulation with the same objective as well as to a traditional RWA that has as an objective the minimization of the number of wavelengths used. Thus, the proposed approach can be compared with both the lower and upper bounds of crosstalk interactions. Simulation results indicate that the proposed GA algorithm provides a solution that is close to the solution of the ILP in terms of crosstalk interactions, while at the same time providing a scalable solution for the case of large scale networks.