A computer aided tool for the performance evaluation of next generation WDM wavelength-routed optical networks

Wavelength-Routed Optical Network Simulator (WRONSIM) is a simulation tool intended for studying the dynamic behavior of distributed reservation protocols in wavelength-routed optical networks. Unlike telephony circuit-switched networks, wavelength-routed optical networks operating under wavelength continuity constraint requires that the same wavelength must be assigned to all links along the selected route. The user can specify the inputs to the simulator which includes a description of network topology, reservation protocols, traffic load and control parameters such as the number of wavelengths per link, the time to process a packet, the time to find an available route etc. The simulator provides statistics such as the average blocking probability of connection requests due to the load or reservation conflicts and the average setup time. A modular design is adopted so that new modules can be added to the simulator easily. As a case study, the simulator is used to compare the performance of two reservation protocols: the source initiated reservation protocol (SRP) and the destination initiated reservation protocol (DRP).