Impact of polarization-mode dispersion on the design of wavelength-routed networks

Abstract

In this letter, we address the impact of polarization-mode dispersion on the design of wavelength-routed optical networks. A mathematical formulation of the problem is provided which optimizes the cost of the network comprising the total number of regenerators and additional installed fiber for a given traffic forecast. The hill-climbing search algorithm is employed with random restarts. Numerical examples show the efficiency of the heuristic, especially in networks with nonhomogeneous fiber quality.