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Traffic-aware network reconfiguration for energy-efficient IPoWDM networks with ZR/ZR+ pluggable optics
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Authors: Qiaolun Zhang, Nisanur Camuzcu, Xiaoyang Guo, Jiaheng Xiong, Ruikun Wang, Tianqu Luo, Memedhe Ibrahimi, Massimo Tornatore
Status: Final
Date of publication: 30 June 2026
Published in: ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, Volume 7 (2026), Issue 2, Pages 256-271
Article DOI : https://doi.org/10.52953/TKXK1653
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Abstract:
Hyperscale AI workloads, cloud services, and data centre interconnect are increasing optical network traffic in future 6G systems. This traffic growth will raise network power consumption. ZR/ZR+ pluggable optics consume less power than traditional long-haul muxponders and are a promising option for IP-over-Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IPoWDM) networks. Yet real network traffic changes during the day, and the energy behaviour of ZR/ZR+-based networks under dynamic reconfiguration has not been investigated. This paper studies traffic-aware reconfiguration strategies, including modulation-format adjustment and traffic rerouting at the IP and optical layers, for IPoWDM networks equipped with ZR/ZR+ pluggables or traditional long-haul muxponders. We formulate the 24-hour energy minimisation problem and develop auxiliary graph-based heuristic algorithms to solve it. Using the Japan and German (G50) topologies and real AMS-IX traffic statistics, the results show that ZR/ZR+ uses 25.3 - 34.5% less power at peak load. However, reconfiguration reduces ZR/ZR+'s daily energy by only about 0.6 -5.3%, compared to about 8.2 - 13.6% for long-haul muxponders, because ZR/ZR+ router power is released only when an entire 400G port is turned off, whereas long-haul muxponder power scales continuously with traffic. These results indicate that, although rerouting strategies yield more limited energy gains for ZR/ZR+ than for long-haul muxponders, they remain necessary for energy-aware 6G backhaul and data centre interconnect networks, as freeing entire 400G router ports is one of the most effective ways to dynamically reduce energy with ZR/ZR+ pluggables. |
Keywords: IPoWDM networks, ZR/ZR+ pluggable optics, network reconfiguration, energy efficiency, optical network
Rights: © International Telecommunication Union, available under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.
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