Patent ID: 8249451

Claim:
A network component comprising: a path computation client (PCC) that is part of a first optical network node of a wavelength switched optical network (WSON), wherein the PCC is configured to communicate with a path computation element (PCE) that is part of a second optical node of the WSON, wherein the first optical node and the second optical node are separated by an optical link, and wherein the PCC comprises at least one processor configured to: create a port restriction matrix comprising a plurality of port restrictions comprising port connectivity information, port wavelength restriction information, or both; compress the port restriction matrix using one or more compression algorithms; and forward the compressed port restriction matrix to the PCE over the optical link, wherein the PCE is configured to perform routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) operations between a plurality of network elements (NEs) in the WSON using the compressed port restriction matrix, and wherein compressing the port restriction matrix using one or more compression algorithms comprises compressing all of the port connectivity information, all of the port wavelength information, or both.