Abstract: Network design techniques are disclosed for optimally placing OXCs and OADMs in an optical mesh network to minimize network cost by using cheaper OADMs wherever possible and only using more expensive OXCs where required. In one aspect, the techniques are provided for determining the optimal configuration of each OXC in terms of each OXC's switch size and port configuration. In another aspect, the present invention provides network analysis transformation techniques which enable Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm to account for the degree of each network node and determine optimal placement of the OXCs and OADMs.