Cost comparison studies of different network platforms: OpEx modeling and analysis

Abstract

The importance of Operational Expenditures (OpEx) on the overall network cost has been shown in recent studies. This master thesis is part of a series of techno economical studies focused on the evaluation of OpEx and the provision of a general tool. This thesis proposes a network model which is integrated with recently a recently proposed service model and service migration model, combined into an OpEx tool. This tool allows network operators comparing different network platforms with different technologies, studying the impact on the cost of new control and/or management capabilities, etc. This tool allows the evaluation of OpEx cost of different network platforms and the identification of the most important cost factor. This thesis has focused on the most costly process by finding an optimal solution that minimizes it. Hence this master thesis forms a complete cost reduction study of an optical backbone network.