Path Establishment Method with Reallocation in Elastic Optical Networks Using Superposition Coding

In optical core networks, Elastic Optical Networks (EON) are gaining attention for efficiently accommodating the continuously increasing communication traffic. Path establishment methods for applying a superposition coding technique to EONs have been proposed. However, they are limited to application during the accommodation of new requested paths. We propose a path establishment method for applying superposition coding not only during the accommodation of new requested paths but also between already accommodated optical paths by reallocating the optical paths. This is expected to increase the number of optical paths applying superposition coding, leading to a more efficient use of frequency resources. We conducted evaluations on combinations of optical paths where superposition coding is applied, the impact of changes in conditions for superposition coding, and impact of the time required for reallocation. The evaluation results indicate a 34.5% decrease in the path-call-blocking probability and a maximum of 25.8% decrease in frequency-slot fragmentation.