Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the IEEE Sweden VT/COM/IT Joint Chapter, we would like to invite you to the IEEE Technical Seminar by Prof. George N. Rouskas, North Carolina State University, USA. 

Title: On Spectrum Symmetry-Free Optical Network Design

Time: 14:00 CEST on Monday, June 9, 2025

Location: Chalmers, E2 Room 7430 Landahlsrummet, Hörsalsvägen 11, Gothenburg

Local host: Marija Furdek Prekratic

Abstract: 

Effective and efficient solutions to optical network design problems are crucial to the operation and economics of the Internet and its ability to support critical and reliable communication services. Existing algorithmic methods have two crucial limitations: 1) they encompass an exponential number of symmetric but equivalent solutions, and 2) they have not been developed with parallelism in mind. In this talk, I will present a new symmetry-free model we have developed for spectrum assignment in general topology networks that, for the first time, enables the design of a new breed of optimal algorithms that altogether sidestep spectrum symmetry, i.e., eliminate symmetric solutions from consideration. Moreover, parallelism is inherent in this model as the new, smaller solution space may be naturally decomposed into independent subsets. Accordingly, the new algorithms readily admit multi-threaded implementations that may be tailored to the computing environment at hand. Spectrum assignment underlies much of optical network design, hence the symmetry-free model opens up new research directions and unlocks new possibilities for algorithmic advances in the field.

Biography:

George N. Rouskas is a computer scientist, academic, and author. He is an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University. Rouskas' research interests lie within the field of computer networking. Specifically, he focuses on optical networks, internet architectures and protocols, network design and optimization, performance modeling, and scheduling. He is the author of the book Internet Tiered Services, and co-editor of the books Traffic Grooming for Optical Networks and Next-Generation Internet: Architectures and Protocols. He is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2004 ALCOA Foundation Engineering Research Achievement Award, as well as the Optical Networking Technical Committee (OTNC) Outstanding Service Award.
Rouskas is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and served as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in 2010 for a year. From 2016 to 2017, he held key positions within the IEEE Communications Society, serving as the Chair of the Distinguished Lecturer Selection Committee, the Chair of the Optical Networking Technical Committee (ONTC), and the vice-chair of the Technical and Educational Activities Council. He served as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Optical Switching and Networking from 2004 to 2017, and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Networking Letters from 2018 to 2021.

Welcome!

Best regards,
Michael Lentmaier (Chair)
IEEE Sweden VT/COM/IT Chapter