System and Method for Second Order Multi-Layer Traffic Grooming for Optical Network Optimization

A method of grooming a network plan of a communication network, the method comprising:

• estimating, at a processor, a first cost of a direct connection between an origination central office and a destination central office;
• estimating, at the processor, a second cost of a spoke connection between the origination central office and a hub node, wherein the spoke connection is to carry residual data traffic to be groomed with other traffic destined for the destination central office;
• adding to the estimated second cost an incremental cost of a light path to carry traffic from the hub node to the destination central office to yield an estimated third cost;
• and
• determining whether to implement the direct connection or the spoke connection based on a comparison of the estimated first cost and the estimated third cost.

A computer program embedded in a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program comprising:

• instructions to determine a first cost of a direct connection between an origination central office and a destination central office;
• instructions to determine a second cost of a spoke connection between the origination central office and a hub node, wherein the spoke connection is to carry residual data traffic to be groomed with other traffic destined for the destination central office;
• and
• instructions to select for implementation one of the direct connection and the spoke connection based on a comparison of the first cost and the second cost.