Reducing Power Consumption in Core Wavelength Division Multiplexing Optical Networks

Abstract This work proposes some heuristic criteria aiming at saving energy by efficiently switching off optical fibers in generalized multi-protocol label switching-controlled optical networks during low traffic load periods and by taking into account network equipment power consumption. Simulations show that up to 80% of energy can be saved when the traffic is reduced by 20% with respect to its maximum. The impact of network design parameters is also investigated.