Multicast in Single-Hop and Multi-Hop WDM Optical Networks

The emerging Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing (WDM) optical network is a promising candidate for next-generation Internet, which provides enormous bandwidth and fast connectivity. Multicast in WDM networks is a fundamental problem which has wide applications including teleconferencing, entertainment distribution, etc. In this project we investigate the multicast and constraint multicast problems in both single-hop and multi-hop WDM networks by studying their computational complexities and devising scalable, high-quality approximation algorithms for them. The developed algorithms significantly improve the network performance and scalability, and the innovative approaches and algorithm techniques developed in this project are also applicable to other routing problems.