OSPFTE EXTENSION TO SUPPORT GMPLS FOR FLEXIBLE GRID

A method and system are disclosed in which a link state advertisement message (LSA) conforming to a Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) routing protocol is generated and transmitted. The LSA is associated with a TE Link between a transmit node and a receive node in a network. The transmit node supplies a plurality of optical signals, each of which has a plurality of frequencies, the frequencies being allocated among a plurality of spectral portions such that the plurality of spectral portions are grouped into a plurality of frequency slots. The LSA may include information indicative of a number of spectral portions, e.g., spectral slices, which correspond to frequencies of selected ones of the plurality of optical signals, said selected ones of the plurality of optical signals being available to carry data from the transmit node to the receive node.