Comparison of two path restoration schemes in self-healing networks

The state-independent (SI) and state-dependent (SD) path restoration schemes for self-healing networks are studied in this paper. The integer programming (IP) formulations for the spare capacity allocation and restoration flow assignment are first presented. Based on the optimal IP solutions, the SI and SD restoration schemes are then compared quantitatively in terms of spare capacity requirement (SCR), restoration time, VPI (virtual path identifier) redundancy (in ATM) and nodal storage capacity requirement. The comparison is based on spare optimization, single link failure scenario and 100% restoration. The SCR is also compared under single node failure scenario. It is observed that using group VP (virtual path) restoration (for either SI or SD) can substantially reduce the restoration time with only a small increase in spare capacity cost. Further, the SI restoration seems better than the SD restoration for the cases we have studied, at least in spare optimization, as its implementation is relatively easier and the difference in SCR between SI and SD is not significant. The economics of scale in transmission facility cost is also investigated in the paper. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.