Networking Study of Waveband/Wavelength Switching for Multi-Granular and Multi-Band Optical Networks

In the imminent era of bandwidth-abundant op- tical networks, the concept of hierarchical optical network architectures emerges, decoupling the massive spatial division multiplexing (SDM) layer and the wavelength division multi- plexing layer. In this paper, we perform a networking-level analysis of a generalized multiband optical cross-connect (OXC) that realizes switching in two steps: grouping wavelengths and switching them as waveband paths. The performed analysis is simulated for multiband and SDM systems, demonstrating that while conventional single-layer wavelength routing remains effective under certain conditions, waveband routing offers a more scalable and cost-effective solution under specific high- load conditions in bandwidth-abundant optical networks. This positions waveband routing as a promising alternative for future high-capacity networks