Efficient multicast protocol for WDM star-coupler networks

In a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) star coupler network, both data and signals issued by the transmitters of nodes are combined by the PSC and then broadcasted back to all nodes. To serve a multicast request on WDM star coupler networks, a transmitter of source node, a receiver of each destination node and a data channel have to be available at the same time. The multicast scheduling algorithm proposed in [1], while incorporating arbitrary transceiver tuning times and propagation delays, can not fully utilize the channel bandwidth. In this paper, an efficient backtrack multicast scheduling algorithm (BMSA) for multicast packet transmissions on WDM-based local lightwave networks with a passive star topology is proposed. The simulation results show that the algorithm substantially improves the channel utilization.