Estimation Uncertainties in the Optical Signal-to-Noise Ratio Network Optimization

In this work, we investigate the effects of estimation uncertainties in the optimization of the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) at the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. The OSNR optimization increases the network throughput and energy efficiency and it enables to minimize the number of retransmissions by higher layers. The OSNR optimization algorithms are related to the optical channel estimation performed by the combinations of optical performance monitors (OPM) measurements, analytical models and numerical simulations. Furthermore, the estimation uncertainties are introduced by several factors such as the availability of monitoring information, monitoring accuracy, imperfection of physical layer and dynamic of channel allocation. Our numerical results have demonstrated the relation between the uncertainties in the channel error estimation, normalized mean squared error (NMSE) and power penalty. The developed methodology can be utilized to determinate the maxim level of acceptable uncertainties in the channel error estimation according the power penalty permitted in the OSNR optimization.