A new fragmentation- and physical layer impairments-aware algorithm to core and spectrum assignment in spatial division multiplexing elastic optical networks

The exponential growth of Internet users and devices, coupled with the increasing demand for high-bandwidth applications, necessitates advancements in optical network infrastructure. This article addresses the challenges of ensuring quality of transmission and efficient resource allocation in space-division multiplexed elastic optical networks (SDM-EONs) based on uncoupled multi-core fiber (MCF). The proposed fragmentation and physical layer impairments-aware algorithm (FXAA) tackles inter-core and intra-core impairments, such as inter-core crosstalk (XT), amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, and nonlinear interferences (NLIs). FXAA implements three key mechanisms: prioritizing spectrum zones to reduce XT, clustering requests to minimize fragmentation, and verifying XT and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) levels to maintain quality of transmission (QoT) thresholds. The algorithm's performance is evaluated against nine other algorithms using network topologies NSFNet and EURO28, demonstrating significant gains in circuit and bandwidth blocking probabilities, as well as spectrum utilization. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of related works, system models, and simulation results, highlighting the superiority of FXAA in managing network resources and enhancing overall performance.