A vertical Path Computation Element (PCE) based path provisioning scheme in multilayer optical networks

The explosive growth of Internet traffic has led to a dramatic increase in demand for data transmission capacity, which requires high transmission rates beyond the conventional transmission capability. This demand has spurred tremendous research activities in new high-speed transmission and switching technologies. As optical transmission technology keeps maturing, next generation optical networks are expected to be controlled by Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) protocol suite and operating at multiple switching layers. In order to ensure the most efficient utilization of multilayer network resources, and to maximize revenue from existing capacity, effective global provisioning solution that providing the network with the possibility of reacting in advance to traffic changes should be provided. This paper proposes a new path provisioning scheme in multilayer optical networks based on the vertical Path Computation Element (PCE) architecture to efficiently exploit multiple PCE cooperation. This paper also investigated the problem of how network nodes overcome limited visibility of network resources. Unlike most of the previous studies, the topology of the upper switching layer is not always equal to the physical topology of lower switching layer.