AbstractThis paper introduces the concept of the multicast optical path in WDM networks, and treats the strategies and the algorithms, which allow the routing of plural multicast paths together with unicast paths. This analysis was motivated by the possibility of exploit the optical layer facilities in the transport network, to carry distributive services, such as video channels (e.g. CATV), without the need of dedicated transmission networks. The strategies and algorithms reported in this paper arise from a generalisation of those ones, which have been previously reported in literature. They are wavelength path (WP: which does not make use of wavelength conversion), virtual wavelength path (VWP: which make full use of wavelength conversion), and partial virtual wavelength path (PVWP: making a parsimonious use of wavelength conversion). The analysis shows the characteristics and performance of those strategies and algorithms considering, as a figure of merit, either the number of wavelengths or the system scale (dimensions of the optical nodes), and compare one to each other in order to point out advantages and disadvantages. The main result is that multicast optical paths can favourably be accommodated in a WDM network, and the strategy we propose, making a parsimonious use of wavelength conversion, allows the lowest system scale to be obtained with a very low number of wavelength converters.