The resilience of WDM networks to probabilistic geographical failures

Pankaj K. Agarwal, Alon Efrat, Shashidhara Ganjugunte, David Hay, Swaminathan Sankararaman, Gil Zussman

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

Telecommunications networks, and in particular optical WDM networks, are vulnerable to large-scale failures of their physical infrastructure, resulting from physical attacks (such as an Electromagnetic Pulse attack) or natural disasters (such as solar flares, earthquakes, and floods). Such events happen at specific geographical locations and disrupt specific parts of the network but their effects are not deterministic. Therefore, we provide a unified framework to model the network vulnerability when the event has a probabilistic nature, defined by an arbitrary probability density function. Our framework captures scenarios with a number of simultaneous attacks, in which network components consist of several dependent subcomponents, and in which either a 1+1 or a 1:1 protection plan is in place. We use computational geometric tools to provide efficient algorithms to identify vulnerable points within the network under various metrics. Then, we obtain numerical results for specific backbone networks, thereby demonstrating the applicability of our algorithms to real-world scenarios. Our novel approach allows for identifying locations which require additional protection efforts (e.g., equipment shielding). Overall, the paper demonstrates that using computational geometric techniques can significantly contribute to our understanding of network resilience.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2011 Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM
Pages1521-1529
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
EventIEEE INFOCOM 2011 - Shanghai, China
Duration: Apr 10 2011Apr 15 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE INFOCOM
ISSN (Print)0743-166X

Other

OtherIEEE INFOCOM 2011
Country/TerritoryChina
CityShanghai
Period4/10/114/15/11

Keywords

  • Network survivability
  • computational geometry
  • geographic networks
  • network protection
  • optical networks

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Computer Science
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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