Integrated Design and Operation of a Transparent Optical Network: A Systematic Approach to Include Physical Layer Awareness and Cost Function.

The manner and exact timing of the evolution of the widely used DWDM infrastructure to a transparent optical network will be judged on economic circumstances and network performance. In this context this article elaborates on a methodology developed within the Project 1ST NOBEL,¹ for integrating cost functions and other design constraints into the planning of a DWDM network while considering this evolution perspective to a transparent optical network. This systematic approach builds upon the experience of static network design and is sub- stantiated by specific examples in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]