GMPLS-controlled all-optical networks are the promise to handle the increasing volume of IP traffic. The GMPLS routing and signaling protocols, mainly OSPF and RSVP, work in such a way that the route calculation for optical circuits does not take into account the label (lambda) availability. This is not optimal in terms of network usage and blocking probability of new circuits. To deal with this scenario, more efficient RWA algorithms could be used to calculate the route and the wavelength assignment at one time. These RWA engines need to know the optical topology in a way that is not described by the current OSPF standards. This paper proposes Traffic Engineering extensions to the OSPF protocol to enable the GMPLS control plane to take advantage of the most effective RWA classes. A prototype was developed and deployed in an optical-simulated copper-based network to verify its feasibility based on the bandwidth overhead generated in the control plane. © 2006 IEEE. 300305Kontak, M., Sobar, D., IP based optical control plane (2003) Proceedings of the 7th International Telecommunications, 2, pp. 427-433. , JuneMannie, E., (2004) Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Architecture, , http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3945.txt, RFC 3945 Proposed Standard, Oct, Online, AvailableLang, J., (2005) Link Management Protocol (LMP), , http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4204.txt, RFC 4204 Proposed Standard, Oct, Online, AvailableKompella, K., Rekhter, Y., (2005) OSPF Extensions in Support of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS), , http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4203.txt, RFC 4203 Proposed Standard, Oct, Online, AvailableL. Berger, Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Resource ReserVation Protocol-Traffic Engineering (RSVPTE) Extensions, RFC 3473 (Proposed Standard), Jan. 2003, atualizada pelas RFCs 4003, 4201, 4420. [Online]. Available: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3473.txtStrand, J., Chiu, A.L., Tkach, R., Issues for routing in the optical layer (2001) IEEE Commun. Mag, 39 (2), pp. 81-87. , FebruaryYamanaka, N., Katayama, M., Shiomoto, K., Oki, E., Matsuura, N., Multi-layer traffic engineering in photonic-GMPLS-router networks (2002) Global Telecommunications Conference, 3, pp. 2731-2735. , NovemberYin, Y., Kuo, G.S., An improved OSPF-TE in GMPLS-based optical networks (2005) Workshop on High Performance Switching and Routing, pp. 241-245. , MayRamaswami, R., Sivarajan, K., Routing and wavelength assignment in all-optical networks (1995) IEEE/ACM Trans. Networking, 3 (5), pp. 489-500. , OctoberChlamtac, I., Ganz, A., Karmi, G., Lightpath communications: An approach to high-bandwidth optical WAN's (1992) IEEE Trans. Commun, 40 (7), pp. 1171-1182. , JulyChlamtac, I., Farago, A., Zhang, T., Lightpath (wavelength) routing in large WDM networks (1996) IEEE Trans. Commun, 14 (5), pp. 909-913. , JuneSubramaniam, S., Barry, R., Wavelength assignment in fixed routing WDM networks (1997) IEEE Int'l Conf. Commun, pp. 411-415. , JunePavani, G.S., Waldman, H., Dynamic routing and wavelength assignment with power constraints (2004) Proceedings of the XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Telecomunicações, , SeptemberYen, J., Finding the k shortest loopless paths in a network (1971) Management Science, 17 (11), pp. 712-716. , JulyQuagga Routing Suite, , http://www.quagga.net, June 2006, Online, AvailableYoon, M., Shin, J., Jeong, C., Jo, J., Kang, O., Kim, S., Optical-LSP Establishment and a QoS Maintenance Scheme Based on Differentiated Optical QoS Classes in OVPNs (2004) Photonic Network Communications, 7 (2), pp. 161-178. , MarchNetwork Protocol Analyzer, , http://www.ethereal.com, June 2006, Online, AvailableAlnuweiri, H.M., Wong, L.Y.K., Al-Khasib, T., Performance of new link state advertisement mechanisms in routing protocols with traffic engineering extensions (2004) IEEE Commun. Mag, 42 (5), pp. 151-162. , May