A GRASP heuristic for the delay-constrained multicast routing problem

The increasing development of real-time multimedia network applications, many of which require multiple participants, has created the need for efficient multicast routing algorithms. Examples of such applications include video and tele-conferencing, video-on-demand, tele-medicine, distance education, etc. Several of them require multicasting with a certain Quality of Service (QoS) with respect to elements such as delay or bandwidth. This paper deals with Delay-Constrained Multicast Routing (DCMR) where the maximum end-to-end delay in a multicast session is bounded. The DCMR problem can be reduced to the Constrained Minimum Steiner Tree Problem in Graphs (CMStTG) which has been proven to be NP-complete. As a result, several heuristics have been developed to help solve it. In this paper, we developed a GRASP heuristic for the DCMR problem. Computational experiments on medium sized problems (50-100 nodes) from literature and comparison with existing algorithms have shown that the suggested GRASP heuristic is superior in quality for this set of problems.     

Multicasting on translucent multicast capable WDM mesh networks

As multicast applications becoming widely popular, supporting multicast in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks is an important issue. Currently, there are two schemes to support multicast in WDM networks. One scheme is opaque multicasting which replicate bit stream in electronic domain. And the other is transparent multicasting which replicate bit stream all optically by a light splitter. However, both of two schemes have drawbacks or difficulties. This paper investigates an alternate translucent multicasting scheme, in which a fraction of branch nodes replicate bit stream at electronic domain and the other branch nodes replicate bit stream all optically. Replicating bit stream at electronic domain will introduce electronic processing overhead and extra delay. To satisfy the delay requirement of multicast session, the maximum number of electronic hops of a multicast tree must be less than an upper bound. In this paper, a hop-constrained multicast routing heuristic algorithm called shortest path based hop-constrained multicast routing (SPHMR) is proposed. A series of simulations are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of translucent multicasting scheme. Simulation results show that the translucent multicasting scheme achieve a good compromise between network performance and network cost as well as power losses caused by light splitting.     

Minimum cost load balanced multipath routing protocol for low power and lossy networks

Conventional shortest path routing mechanisms in low power and lossy networks (LLNs) impose excessive traffic load on some nodes and cause their early battery depletion. Load balancing via multipath routing is a promising solution to increase lifetime. This idea is practised by some algorithms, mostly through limited number of disjoint paths, to reduce inter-path interference. In this paper a proactive multipath routing algorithm called MRPL is proposed, based on the recent standard routing protocol for LLNs. The algorithm tries to distribute the traffic load through a set of braided paths, with the objective of maximizing the network lifetime and minimizing total transmission cost. The traffic distribution mechanism is formulated by a linear program and a heuristic method is proposed to implement it in a distributed manner. Simulation results provide enough evidence for energy and cost efficiency of the proposed routing mechanism.     

Power and cost aware localized routing with guaranteed delivery in unit graph based ad hoc networks

In a localized routing algorithm, each node currently holding a message makes forwarding decision solely based on the position information about itself, its neighbors and destination. In a unit graph, two nodes can communicate if and only if the distance between them is no more than the transmission radius, which is the same for each node. This paper proposes localized routing algorithms, aimed at minimizing total power for routing a message or maximizing the total number of routing tasks that a network can perform before a partition. The algorithms are combinations of known greedy power and/or cost aware localized routing algorithms and an algorithm that guarantees delivery. A shortcut procedure is introduced in later algorithm to enhance its performance. Another improvement is to restrict the routing to nodes in a dominating set. These improvements require two‐hop knowledge at each node. The efficiency of proposed algorithms is verified experimentally by comparing their power savings, and the number of routing tasks a network can perform before a node loses all its energy, with the corresponding shortest weighted path algorithms and localized algorithms that use fixed transmission power at each node. Significant energy savings are obtained, and feasibility of applying power and cost‐aware localized schemes is demonstrated. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Routing to Multiple Destinations in Computer Networks

Algorithms for effectively routing messages from a source to multiple destination nodes in a store-and-forward computer network are studied. The focus is on minimizing the network cost (NC), which is the sum of weights of the links in the routing path. Several heuristic algorithms are studied for finding the NC minimum path (which is an NP-complete problem). Among them are variations of a minimum spanning tree (MST) heuristic and heuristics for the traveling salesman problem, both of which use global network information. Another set of heuristics examined are based on using only the shortest paths to the destinations. While the MST algorithm has the best worst case performance among all algorithms, a detailed, empirical study of the "average" performance of the algorithms on typical, randomly chosen networks reveals that simpler heuristics are almost as effective. The NC cost measure is also compared to the destination cost (DC), which is the sum of weights of the shortest path distances to all destinations. A scheme of algorithms is given which trades off between NC and DC.     

Optimal regenerator assignment and resource allocation strategies for translucent optical networks

Physical layer impairments in wavelength-routed networks limit the maximum distance, a signal can travel in the optical domain, without significant distortion. Therefore, signal regeneration is required at some intermediate nodes for long-haul lightpaths. In translucent WDM networks, sparsely located regenerators at certain nodes can be used to offset the impact of physical layer impairments. The routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) techniques in such translucent networks need to take into consideration the availability of regenerators and the maximum optical reach of the transparent lightpaths (without any regeneration). Although there has been significant research interest in RWA algorithms for translucent networks, much of the research has focused on dynamic RWA techniques. Only a handful of recent papers have considered the static (offline) case, and they typically propose heuristic algorithms to solve this complex design problem for practical networks. In this paper, we propose a generalized integer linear program (ILP) based formulation for static regenerator assignment and RWA in translucent WDM optical networks, with sparse regenerator placement. To the best of our knowledge, such a formulation that optimally allocates resources for a set of lightpaths for translucent networks, given the physical network, the locations of the regenerators, and the maximum optical reach has not been considered before. The proposed formulation is important for two reasons. First, it can serve as a benchmark for evaluating different heuristic approaches that may be developedin the future. Second, we show that using a novel node representation technique, it is possible to drastically reduce the number of integer variables. This means that unlike existing ILP formulations, our approach can actually be used to generate optimal solutions for practical networks, with hundreds of lightpath demands.     

Virtual topologies for multicasting with multiple originators in WDM networks

In this paper, we consider the problem of multicasting with multiple originators in WDM optical networks. In this problem, we are given a set S of source nodes and a set D of destination nodes in a network. All source nodes are capable of providing data to any destination node. Our objective is to find a virtual topology in the WDM network which satisfies given constraints on available resources and is optimal with respect to minimizing the maximum hop distance. Although the corresponding decision problem is NP-complete in general, we give polynomial time algorithms for the cases of unidirectional paths and rings.     

Optimization of wavelength assignment for QoS multicast in WDMnetworks

This paper discusses quality-of-service (QoS) multicast in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks. Given a set of QoS multicast requests, we are to find a set of cost suboptimal QoS routing trees and assign wavelengths to them. The objective is to minimize the number of wavelengths in the system. This is a challenging issue. It involves not only optimal QoS multicast routing, but also optimal wavelength assignment. Existing methods consider channel setup in WDM networks in two separate steps: routing and wavelength assignment, which has limited power in minimizing the number of wavelengths. In this paper, we propose a new optimization method, which integrates routing and wavelength assignment in optimization of wavelengths. Two optimization algorithms are also proposed in minimizing the number of wavelengths. One algorithm minimizes the number of wavelengths through reducing the maximal link load in the system; while the other does it by trying to free out the least used wavelengths. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can produce suboptimal QoS routing trees and substantially save the number of wavelengths     

Adaptive load-balancing in WDM mesh networks with performance guarantees

In nowadays, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks, on the one hand, increasingly more users expect the network to provide high-priority QoS services demanding no congestion and low latency. On the other hand, it is significantly more difficult for network operators to forecast future traffic demands, as the packet traffic running over WDM networks fluctuates over time for a variety of reasons. Confronted with a rough understanding of traffic patterns as well as the increasing number of time-sensitive applications, most networks today are grossly over-provisioned. Thus, designing cost-effective WDM networks in an uncertain traffic environment, which includes network planning and robust routing, is both an important and a challenging task. In this paper, we explore adaptive load-balancing to investigate the problems of network planning and robust routing for WDM mesh networks under varying traffic matrices. We first propose an efficient heuristic algorithm called Maximizing Network Capability (MNC) to provision congestion-free and cost-effective WDM networks based on load-balancing to deal with traffic uncertainty. Then, a novel traffic grooming algorithm called Adding Direct Traffic (ADT) is proposed to implement robust routing with partial traffic information. Finally, we demonstrate by simulation that MNC consumes less resources than previous methods and performs quite close to the optimal solution, while ADT achieves the desirable performance in delay, jitter (delay variation), and throughput compared with existing robust routing and traffic grooming algorithms.     

Optimal Allocation of Limited Optical-Layer Resources in WDM Networks Under Static Traffic Demand*

In this paper, four heuristic algorithms for the optimal allocation of limited optical-layer resources in WDM networks (virtual-topology optimization by routing and wavelength assignment) under static traffic demand are compared. While some previous papers assumed that all connection requests must be necessarily satisfied, in this work algorithms are studied aiming at comparing their ability in minimizing both the usage of optical-layer resources and the number of connection requests that cannot be allocated. This paper reports the results obtained on a 13-nodes simplified topology of the pan-European optical transport network designed in the COST239 Project. The results of a few hundreds simulations with different traffic matrices have been gathered, by considering separately the cost of resources allocated and the percentage of rejected connections. One algorithm resulted best performing, because in most tests it allocated the lowest cost of optical-layer resources. On the other hand, the four algorithms exhibited comparable performance with respect to the percentage of rejected connections.     

Offline Impairment-Aware Routing and Wavelength Assignment Algorithms in Translucent WDM Optical Networks

Physical impairments in optical fiber transmission necessitate the use of regeneration at certain intermediate nodes, at least for certain lengthy lightpaths. We design and implement impairment-aware algorithms for routing and wavelength assignment (IA-RWA) in translucent optical networks. We focus on the offline version of the problem, where we are given a network topology, the number of available wavelengths and a traffic matrix. The proposed algorithm selects the 3R regeneration sites and the number of regenerators that need to be deployed on these sites, solving the regenerator placement problem for the given set of requested connections. The problem can be also posed in a slightly different setting, where a (sparse) placement of regenerators in the network is given as input and the algorithm selects which of the available regenerators to use, solving the regenerator assignment problem. We formulate the problem of regenerator placement and regenerator assignment, as a virtual topology design problem, and address it using various algorithms, ranging from a series of integer linear programming (ILP) formulations to simple greedy heuristic algorithms. Once the sequence of regenerators to be used by the non-transparent connections has been determined, we transform the initial traffic matrix by replacing non-transparent connections with a sequence of transparent connections that terminate and begin at the specified 3R intermediate nodes. Using the transformed matrix we then apply an IA-RWA algorithm designed for transparent (as opposed to translucent) networks to route the traffic. Blocked connections are re-routed using any remaining regenerator(s) in the last phase of the algorithm.      

Wide-sense nonblocking multicast in a class of regular optical WDMnetworks

Multicast communication involves transmitting information from a single source node to multiple destination nodes, and is becoming an important requirement in high-performance networks. We study multicast communication in a class of optical WDM networks with regular topologies such as linear arrays, rings, meshes, tori and hypercubes. For each type of network, we derive the necessary and sufficient conditions on the minimum number of wavelengths required for a WDM network to be wide-sense nonblocking for multicast communication under some commonly used routing algorithms     

All-optical multipoint-to-point routing in WDM mesh networks

In this article, the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem for supporting multipoint-to-point communications in all-optical WDM mesh networks is investigated. Two efficient algorithms, namely reverse shortest path tree routing (RSPT) and k-bounded edge disjoint path routing (EDPR), are proposed. We proved that the problem of minimizing the total cost while establishing a multipoint-to-point session can be solved in polynomial time of O(|V|log|V|?+?|V|?+?|E|) by the RSPT algorithm, where |V| and |E| denote the number of nodes and the number of edges in the network, respectively. Nevertheless, the solution provided by the EDPR algorithm produces a significant reduction in the maximum number of wavelengths required per link (i.e., the link stress) for a multipoint-to-point session compared to RSPT algorithm. EDPR algorithm can also approximate to the optimal total cost with a ratio of k. Simulations are done to assess these two algorithms. Numerical results demonstrate their efficiencies in supporting multipoint-to-point communications in all-optical WDM networks.     

WDM网络中确定波长变换器位置与数目的启发式算法

该文首次研究了波分复用(Wavelength Division Multiplex,WDM)网络中如何在最佳节点中确定波长变换器数目的算法,设计了3种启发式算法,通过在NSFNET(the U.S.NationalScience Foundation backbone NETwork,美国科学基金会骨干网络),ARPANBT(the AdvancedResearch Projects Agency NETwork,美国高级研究规划局网络),CERNET(China Educationand Research NETwork,中国教育科研网络)上的仿真,比较了3种算法的性能差异,得出算法1的性能最优,且复杂度最低。另外,通过比较在部分节点以及全部节点中运用算法1确定波长变换器的数目,得出:在WDM网络中,在部分节点中装配有限的波长变换器也可以达到全部节点中装备波长变换器的性能,并且还可以降低光交叉连接设备(Optical Cross-Connects,OXC)的成本,减少复杂的控制。     

Topology based placement of multicast capable nodes for supporting efficient multicast communication in WDM optical networks

Most existing algorithms for the problem of optical signal splitter placement or multicast splitting-capable node placement in a WDM network are based on the performance of attempting a large set of randomly generated multicast sessions in the network. Experiments show that placement of multicast capable nodes based on their importance for routing one set of multicast sessions may not be a right choice for another set of multicast sessions. In this work, we propose placement algorithms that are based on network topology and the relative importance of a node in routing multicast sessions, which is measured by our proposed metrics. Since a network topology is fixed once given, the proposed algorithms are essentially network traffic independent. We evaluate the proposed placement algorithms given static sets of multicast sessions as well as under dynamic traffic conditions, which are routed using our splitter constrained multicast routing algorithm. Our results show that the proposed algorithms perform better, compared to existing algorithms.     

Algorithms for the global design of WDM networks including the traffic grooming

In this paper, we propose a model and algorithms for the global design problem of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks including the traffic grooming. This problem consists in finding the number of fibres between each pair of nodes (i.e. the physical topology), finding the number of transponders at each node, choosing the set of lightpaths (i.e. the virtual topology), routing these lightpaths over the physical topology and, finally, grooming and routing the traffic over the lightpaths. Since this problem is NP-hard, we propose two heuristic algorithms and a tabu search metaheuristic algorithm to find solutions for real-size instances within a reasonable amount of computational time.     

Toward wide-scale all-optical transparent networking: the ACTSoptical pan-European network (OPEN) project

The European ACTS project optical pan-European network (OPEN) aims at assessing the feasibility of an optical pan-European overlay network, interconnecting major European cities by means of a mesh of high-capacity optical fiber links, cross-connected through transparent photonic nodes. Both the transmission links and the routing network elements rely on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) all-optical technologies, such as wavelength translation. This paper presents results obtained in the following domains covered within the project: network topology considerations (optimization and dimensioning); network physical layer simulation; fabrications of packaged functional modules based on advanced optoelectronic devices; laboratory demonstrations of N×10 Gb/s transmission and routing; feasibility of an optical time division multiplexing/WDM (OTDM/WDM) interface; and the field implementation of a 4×4 multiwavelength crossconnect prototype, featuring all-optical space and wavelength routing. This implementation was realized in two cross-border field trials, one conducted between Norway and Denmark and the other between France and Belgium. The final results of the Norway to Denmark field trials are presented, featuring the successful cascade of three wavelength-translating optical crossconnects (OXCs), along with the transmission over 1000 km of a mix of standard/submarine cable links for four channels at 2.5 Gb/s     

Impact of transmission performance on path routing in all-opticaltransport networks

The impact of transmission related issues on the routing strategies for transparent all-optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transport networks is analyzed in this paper. Three different categories of routing algorithms are analyzed: algorithms based on the wavelength path (WP) strategy, based on the virtual wavelength path (VWP) strategy and requiring only a limited number of wavelength converters in the network partial virtual wavelength path (PVWP). It results that the PVWP allows a saving in network devices with respect to the WP similar those permitted by the VWP also attaining transmission performances near those attained by the WP that are quite better that those attained by the VWP     

Distributed Algorithms for Secure Multipath Routing in Attack-Resistant Networks

To proactively defend against intruders from readily jeopardizing single-path data sessions, we propose a distributed secure multipath solution to route data across multiple paths so that intruders require much more resources to mount successful attacks. Our work exhibits several important properties that include: (1) routing decisions are made locally by network nodes without the centralized information of the entire network topology; (2) routing decisions minimize throughput loss under a single-link attack with respect to different session models; and (3) routing decisions address multiple link attacks via lexicographic optimization. We devise two algorithms termed the Bound-Control algorithm and the Lex-Control algorithm, both of which provide provably optimal solutions. Experiments show that the Bound-Control algorithm is more effective to prevent the worst-case single-link attack when compared to the single-path approach, and that the Lex-Control algorithm further enhances the Bound-Control algorithm by countering severe single-link attacks and various types of multi-link attacks. Moreover, the Lex-Control algorithm offers prominent protection after only a few execution rounds, implying that we can sacrifice minimal routing protection for significantly improved algorithm performance. Finally, we examine the applicability of our proposed algorithms in a specialized defensive network architecture called the attack-resistant network and analyze how the algorithms address resiliency and security in different network settings.     

Performance and testbed study of topology reconfiguration in IP over optical networks

With the widespread deployment of Internet protocol/wavelength division multiplexing (IP/WDM) networks, it becomes necessary to develop traffic engineering (TE) solutions that can effectively exploit WDM reconfigurability. More importantly, experimental work on reconfiguring lightpath topology over testbed IP/WDM networks is needed urgently to push the technology forward to operational networks. This paper presents a performance and testbed study of topology reconfiguration for IP/WDM networks. IP/WDM TE can be fulfilled in two fashions, overlay vs. integrated, which drives the network control software, e.g., routing and signaling protocols, and selects the corresponding network architecture model, e.g., overlay or peer-to-peer. We present a traffic management framework for IP over reconfigurable WDM networks. Three "one-hop traffic maximization"-oriented heuristic algorithms for lightpath topology design are introduced. A reconfiguration migration algorithm to minimize network impact is presented. To verify the performance of the topology design algorithms, we have conducted extensive simulation study. The simulation results show that the topologies designed by the reconfiguration algorithms outperform the fixed topology with throughput gain as well as average hop-distance reduction. We describe the testbed network and software architecture developed in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Next Generation Internet (NGI) SuperNet Network Control and Management project and report the TE experiments conducted over the testbed.