CONFIGURING A PATH IN AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

摘要

A method (10) of configuring a path between an ingress node and an egress node in an optical communications network, the path comprising a first hop and a subsequent hop. The method comprises: a. selecting a candidate hop for the first hop of the path (12); b. obtaining a value of a signal feasibility parameter for the candidate hop (14, 16, 18); c. determining whether said value lies within an acceptable value range (20) and if one is, accepting said candidate hop for the first hop of the path (22), and if one is not, repeating steps a. to c; d. selecting a candidate hop for the subsequent hop of path (24); e. obtaining a value of a signal feasibility parameter for a combined path comprising the first hop and the candidate hop for the subsequent hop of the path (26, 28, 30); f. determining whether said value lies within an acceptable value range (32), if one is, acceptable value range accepting said candidate hop for the subsequent hop of the path (34), and if one is not, repeating steps d. and e.; and g. generating and transmitting a control signal for configuring the path (36), wherein each said step of obtaining a value of a signal feasibility parameter comprises checking whether a measured value of the signal feasibility parameter is available (14, 26) and if one is, retrieving said measured value (16, 28) and if one is not, calculating an estimated value of the signal feasibility parameter (18, 30).