Flex Net Sim

Flex Net Sim is a C++ simulation library for developing allocation algorithms in flexible grid optical networks. It supports Elastic Optical Networks (EONs), Multi-Band EONs (MB-EONs), and Spatial Division Multiplexing EONs (SDM-EONs), enabling flexible network customization. Using a Poisson-based traffic model, it lets researchers focus solely in the algorithm codification without handling the simulation infrastructure.

Our library has been published in the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking (JOCN)! If you find it useful, please cite the journal paper 😍

@article{BorquezParedes2026,
  author    = {Danilo B\'{o}rquez-Paredes and Mirko Zitkovich},
  journal   = {J. Opt. Commun. Netw.},
  number    = {9},
  pages     = {D16--D29},
  publisher = {Optica Publishing Group},
  title     = {Flex Net Sim: a C$+$$+$ library to benchmark spectrum allocation algorithms in elastic optical networks},
  volume    = {18},
  month     = {Sep},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://opg.optica.org/jocn/abstract.cfm?URI=jocn-18-9-D16},
  doi       = {10.1364/JOCN.586052},
}

Alternatively, you can also cite the original pre-print on arXiv:

@misc{borquez2021,
  author        = {Felipe Falcón and Gonzalo España and Danilo Bórquez-Paredes},
  title         = {Flex Net Sim: A Lightweight Manual},
  year          = {2021},
  eprint        = {2105.02762},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  primaryClass  = {cs.NI}
}

Features

• Flexibility to implement custom allocation algorithms for EONs, SDM-EONs (see paper), and MB-EONs.
  
• Support for customizable network topologies and multiple routing configurations via JSON files.
  
• Support for heterogeneous bitrate traffic through JSON configuration.
  
• Fine-grained control over connection arrival/departure ratios and the number of simulated connections.
  
• Capability to define and generate custom statistics.
  
• ...and more!
  

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Installation