Dynamic load balancing in broadcast WDM networks with tuning latencies

In this paper we study the problem of dynamic load balancing in broadcast WDM networks by retuning a subset of transceivers in response to changes in the overall traffic pattern. Assuming an existing wavelength assignment and some information regarding the new traffic demands, we present two approaches to obtaining a new wavelength assignment such that (a) the new traffic load is balanced across the channels, and (b) the number of transceivers that need to be retuned is minimized. The latter objective is motivated by the fact that tunable transceivers take a non-negligible amount of time to switch between wavelengths during which parts of the network are unavailable for normal operation. Our main contribution is a new approximation algorithm for the load balancing problem that provides for tradeoff selection, using a single parameter, between the two conflicting goals. This algorithm leads to a scalable approach to reconfiguring the network since, in addition to providing guarantees in terms of load balancing, the expected number of retunings scales with the number of channels, not the number of nodes in the network.