Optical CDMA for all-optical sub-wavelength switching in core GMPLS networks

Generalized multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS) is a multipurpose control-plane paradigm that extends the MPLS scheme allowing switching without recognizing packet boundaries. In this paper, we present a novel extension that exploits a new physical layer for switching in optical GMPLS. The proposed extension is achieved through adding an optical code switching layer, or code switch capable (CSC) layer, to the existing label mapping layers. Our proposal enables finer granularity at sub-wavelength level in all-optical GMPLS core switches, resulting in significant enhancements to traffic isolation capabilities for all-optical GMPLS core switches. We employ mathematical analysis to derive performance bounds for the proposed scheme, from both the labeling capacity and network throughput points of view. We use our analytical model to derive several optimum operating points for the network, and show that our techniques significantly improve the overall performance of all-optical core networks