A framework for fiber delay‐line buffers in packet‐based asynchronous multifiber optical networks (PAMFONET)

A major challenge in packet‐based optical networks is packet contention, which occurs when two or more packets are heading to the same output at the same time. To resolve contention in the optical domain, a fundamental approach is fiber delay‐line (FDL) buffering, in which packets can be delayed for a fixed amount of time. In the literature, the performance of FDL buffering has been studied extensively. However, most existing works are based on an assumption that there is only one fiber per link in the network. In this paper, we address the architecture and performance of FDL buffers in packet‐based asynchronous multifiber optical networks (PAMFONET), in which each link in the network may consist of multiple optical fibers. We propose a framework for FDL buffers in PAMFONET, in which we provide three essential architectures and corresponding packet scheduling policies. Extensive simulation results show that, with appropriate settings, the same number of FDLs can lead to better performance in multifiber networks than in single‐fiber networks. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differentiated contention resolution for QoS in photonic packet-switched networks

Packet contention is a major challenge in photonic packet-switched networks due to the lack of random access buffers in the optical domain. Existing contention resolution approaches such as wavelength conversion and fiber-delay-line buffering may significantly increase the overall system cost and may be difficult to implement. To avoid such issues, this paper proposes a framework for providing label-based differentiated contention resolution by exploiting recirculation buffering and deflection routing. To accommodate more options for differentiation and to avoid the potential problem of forwarding packets in a network indefinitely, two classes of loopless deflection algorithms are provided. An analytical model is also developed to evaluate the packet loss probability and the end-to-end delay for different buffering and deflection routing schemes. The paper also investigates the effectiveness of the control schemes in providing differentiated loss and delay through simulation and analysis. The accuracy of the analytical model is confirmed by simulation.     

Analytical MMAP-Based Bounds for Packet Loss in Optical Packet Switching with Recirculating FDL Buffers

The major goal of optical packet switching (OPS) is to match switching technology to the huge capacities provided by (D)WDM. A crucial issue in packet switched networks is the avoidance of packet losses stemming from contention. In OPS, contention can be solved using a combination of exploitation of the wavelength domain (through wavelength conversion) and buffering. To provide optical buffering, fiber delay lines (FDLs) are used. In this paper, we focus on an optical packet switch with recirculating FDL buffers and wavelength converters. We introduce the Markovian arrival process with marked transitions (MMAP), which has very desirable properties as a traffic model for OPS performance assessment. Using this model, we determine lower and upper bounds for the packet loss rate (PLR) achieved by the aforementioned switch. The calculation of the PLR bounds through matrix analytical methods is repeated for a wide range of traffic conditions, including highly non-uniform traffic, both in space (i.e., packet destinations) and time (bursty traffic). The quality of these bounds is verified through comparison with simulation results.     

An analytical model for all-optical packet switching networks with finite FDL buffers

Signal loss and noise accumulation can cause fading in optical buffers implemented by fiber delay lines (FDLs). Optical packets that excessively recirculate through FDLs are easily dropped from their routing paths. Therefore, analytical models and packet scheduling schemes require additional considerations for FDL buffers. This work proposes an analytical model for all-optical packet switching networks with finite FDL buffers and a general class of scheduling schemes including many basic scheduling schemes. We intend to minimize the packet loss probability by ranking packets to achieve an optimal balance between latency and residual lifetime in the general class of scheduling schemes. The analytical model is based on a non-homogeneous Markovian analysis to study the effects of various scheduling schemes on packet loss probability and average latency. Analytical results show how various network parameters affect the optimal balance, and illustrate how properly balancing latency and residual distance can significantly improve network performance.     

Scheduling algorithms for shared fiber-delay-line optical packet Switches-part II: the three-stage clos-network case

In all-optical packet switching, packets may arrive at an optical switch in an uncoordinated fashion. To prevent packet loss in the switch, fiber delay lines (FDLs) are used as optical buffers to store optical packets. However, assigning FDLs to the arrival packets to achieve high throughput, low delay, and low loss rate is not a trivial task. In the authors' companion paper, several efficient scheduling algorithms were proposed for single-stage shared-FDL optical packet switches (OPSs). To further enhance the switch's scalability, this work was extended to a multistage case. In this paper, two scheduling algorithms are proposed: 1) sequential FDL assignment and 2) multicell FDL assignment algorithms for a three-stage optical Clos-Network switch (OCNS). The paper shows by simulation that a three-stage OCNS with these FDL assignment algorithms can achieve satisfactory performance.     

Blocking and Delay Analysis of Single Wavelength Optical Buffer With General Packet Size Distribution

Buffers are essential components of any packet switch for resolving contentions among arriving packets. Currently, optical buffers are composed of fiber delay lines (FDL), whose blocking and delay behavior differ drastically from that of conventional RAM at least two-fold: 1) only multiples of discrete time delays can be offered to arriving packets; 2) a packet must be dropped if the maximum delay provided by optical buffer is not sufficient to avoid contention, this property is called balking. As a result, optical buffers only have finite time resolution, which may lead to excess load and prolong the packet delay. In this paper, a novel queueing model of optical buffer is proposed, and the closed-form expressions of blocking probability and mean delay are derived to explore the tradeoff between buffer performance and system parameters, such as the length of the optical buffer, the time granularity of FDLs, and to evaluate the overall impact of packet length distribution on the buffer performance.     

Scheduling algorithms for shared fiber-delay-line optical packet Switches-part I: the single-stage case

In all-optical packet switching, packets may arrive at an optical switch in an uncoordinated fashion. When contention occurs, fiber delay lines (FDLs) are needed to delay (buffer) the packets that have lost the contention to some future time slots for the desired output ports. There have been several optical-buffered switch architectures and FDL assignment algorithms proposed in the literature. However, most of them either have high implementation complexity or fail to schedule in advance departure time for the delayed packets. This paper studies the packet scheduling algorithms for the single-stage shared-FDL optical packet switch. Three new FDL assignment algorithms are proposed, namely sequential FDL assignment (SEFA), multicell FDL assignment (MUFA), and parallel iterative FDL assignment (PIFA) algorithms for the switch. The proposed algorithms can make FDLs and output-port reservation so as to schedule departure time for packets. Owing to FDL and/or output-port conflicts, the packets that fail to be scheduled are discarded before entering the switch so that they do not occupy any FDL resources. It is shown by simulation that with these algorithms, the optical-buffered switch can achieve a loss rate of /spl sim/10/sup -7/ even at the load of 0.9. These algorithms are extended to the three-stage Clos-Network optical packet switches in the companion paper.     

On-the-Fly All-Optical Contention Resolution for NRZ and RZ Data Formats Using Packet Envelope Detection and Integrated Optical Switches

We present a packet-by-packet contention resolution scheme that combines packet detection, optical space switching, and wavelength conversion performed in the optical domain by integrated optical switches. The packet detection circuit provides the control signals required to deflect and wavelength-convert the contending packets so that all the packets are forwarded to the same output without any collision or packet droppings. We demonstrate the compatibility of the scheme with both nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ) modulation formats by recording error-free operation for 10-Gb/s NRZ and 40-Gb/s RZ packet-mode traffic     

The impact of synchronization on the performance of FDL buffers

Circumventing the speed bottleneck of electronic switching, novel switching approaches like optical burst switching (OBS) and optical packet switching (OPS) handle the switching of bursts (or packets) in backbone nodes optically, and include a set of fiber delay lines (FDLs) for optical buffering. While previous work acknowledges the performance difference between optical FDL buffers and electronic RAM buffers, the important role of synchronization herein has received little attention to date.     

一种新型的输出缓存式光分组交换节点性能分析

光缓存和波长变换是解决光分组竞争的有效方法.提出一种称为FCOB的新型光分组交换节点结构,它使用固定波长变换器和输出式光缓存来解决光分组的竞争.针对FCOB交换结构,还提出一种有效的竞争控制算法.最后,使用仿真实验对FCOB的性能进行了评估.仿真结果表明,虽然使用的是固定波长变换器,但FCOB交换结构仍具有良好的性能.     

A latency-aware scheduling algorithm for all-optical packet switching networks with FDL buffers

Optical buffers implemented by fiber delay lines (FDLs) have a volatile nature due to signal loss and noise accumulation. Packets suffer from excessive recirculation through FDLs, and they may be dropped eventually in their routing paths. Because of this, packet scheduling becomes more difficult in FDL buffers than in RAM buffers, and requires additional design considerations for reducing packet loss. We propose a latency-aware scheduling scheme and an analytical model for all-optical packet switching networks with FDL buffers. The latency-aware scheduling scheme is intended to minimize the packet loss rate of the networks by ranking packets in the optimal balance between latency and residual distance. The analytical model is based on non-homogeneous Markovian analysis to study the effect of the proposed scheduling scheme on packet loss rate and average delay. Furthermore, our numerical results show how various network parameters affect the optimal balance. We demonstrate quantitatively how to achieve the proper balance between latency and residual distance so that the network performance can be improved significantly. For instance, we find that under a given latency limit and light traffic load our scheduling scheme achieves a packet loss rate 71% lower than a scheduling scheme that ranks packets simply based on latency.     

基于FDL和TWC的光突发竞争解决方案及性能分析

在光突发交换(OBS)网络中,突发竞争是影响网络性能的一个重要因素,因此如何有效地解决它,成了OBS网络非常重要的问题.在分析当前文献中的解决方案的优缺点后,提出了一种突发竞争解决方案的系统实现.该实现将光纤延迟线(FDL)时城缓存与波长转换器(TWC)波长变换、空城技术结合在一起,构造了一个基于前向转发缓存和反馈循环缓存的两级交换结构.最后从多方面对该系统实现的竞争解决有效性进行了性能分析和计算机仿真,结果表明:它在适当的业务强度(小于0.6)下,能有效改善突发丢失率和突发延迟;同时能降低系统所需的光器件数目.     

光分组交换网络中的竞争解决策略

在光分组交换网络中,如果同一时刻有两个以上的分组要以同一波长从同一输出端口离开光交换机就会产生竞争,如何解决光分组竞争将会对光分组交换网络的性能产生巨大影响.通常,解决光分组竞争的方法有光缓存、波长变换和偏射路由等三种.文章详细阐述了这三种竞争解决方法的原理、实现方式及特点.     

采用部分共享光缓存和共享波长转换器的光分组交换节点性能分析

本文研究了采用部分共享缓存(PSB)和共享波长转换器(SWC)的光分组交换节点在自相似流量下分组丢失率和时延与输出光缓存深度、循环共享光缓存的深度和组数以及波长转换器数量之间的关系,并讨论了相关的尺度和规模问题.结果表明,部分共享光缓存和共享波长转换器的光分组交换节点交换结构可以达到很高的性能;采用共享方式可显著减少波长转换器的数量;在保持共享缓存总的深度不变的情况下,适当增加循环共享光缓存组数可以使交换达到更好的性能.     

Quality-of-service mechanisms in IP-over-WDM networks

Classical approaches to QoS provisioning in IP networks are difficult to apply in all-optical networks. This is mainly because there is no optical counterpart to the store-and-forward model that mandates the use of buffers for queuing packets during contention for bandwidth in electronic packet switches. Since plain IP assumes a best effort service model, there is a need to devise mechanisms for QoS provisioning in IP over wavelength-division multiplexing networks. Such mechanisms must consider the physical characteristics and limitations of the optical domain. This article presents a classification and survey of proposals for QoS provisioning and enforcement in IP-over-WDM networks. The different QoS proposals surveyed cover three major optical switching methods: wavelength routing, optical packet switching, and optical burst switching.     

Keeping the packet sequence in optical packet-switched networks

This paper deals with optical packet switches with limited buffer capabilities, subject to asynchronous, variable-length packets and connection-oriented operation. The focus is put on buffer scheduling policies and queuing performance evaluation. In particular a combined use of the wavelength and time domain is exploited in order to obtain contention resolution algorithms that guarantee the sequence preservation of packets belonging to the same connection. Four simple algorithms for strict and loose packet sequence preservation are proposed. Their performance is studied and compared with previously proposed algorithms. Simulation results suggest that by accepting some additional processing effort it is possible to guarantee very low packet loss probabilities while avoiding the out-of-sequence delivery.     

Bandwidth and Buffer Tradeoffs in Optical Packet Switching

Recognizing the difficulties in buffering or slowing data in all-optical networks, optical packet switching (OPS) may be viable if buffers are small, at the cost of some inefficiency in link utilization. In this paper, the authors consider a new single-node OPS model that focuses on a set of output wavelengths in a certain link and consider the set of input wavelengths that transmits packets competing for the set of output wavelengths. Using this model, an exact solution and an accurate and scalable approximation, based on reduction of the state-space to a single direction, are provided for packet-loss probability and mean queueing delay. Tradeoffs between optical buffering capacity and link utilization for cases with and without wavelength conversion are studied and discussed     

Performance of two-stage shared fiber delay line optical packet switch under bursty traffic

Packet contention is a major issue in an optical packet switching network. It is not a trivial task to resolve contention due to lack of optical RAM technology. This article proposes a two-stage shared fiber delay line (FDL) optical packet switch for contention resolution. In this article, shared FDLs are used to buffer optical packets, in which a pool of buffer memory is shared among all switch output ports. Most of the existing optical buffering schemes are output-based which require a huge number of FDLs as well as a larger switch size that incur extra implementation cost. However, a shared buffering approach is considered in this article in order to reduce implementation cost. In this article, FDLs are implemented in two stages using an extremely simple auxiliary switch. The proposed switch architecture leads to more efficient use of buffer space. The superiority of the proposed switch architecture has been established by means of extensive simulations. The performance of the proposed switch is investigated under bursty traffic. Simulation result shows that the proposed switch can achieve satisfactory performance at the price of a reasonable amount of FDLs. Moreover, the significance of the proposed switch is confirmed by simulation.     

共享式光缓存中的控制策略

在光分组交换（0PS）节点结构中,由光纤延迟线（FDL）所构成的光缓存是解决光分组冲突的一种非常有效的方法。对于共享式FDL光缓存,由于FDL竞争的出现会导致光缓存性能的恶化。为了有效利用光缓存,需要对光缓存资源的分配进行有效的控制。为此,针对共事式FDL光缓存,提出一种有效的光缓存控制策略,即有限贪婪模式（limited greedy mode,LGM）缓存控制策略。使用仿真实验的方法对LGM的性能进行了评估。     

Optimized Combination of Converter Pools and FDL Buffers for Contention Resolution in Optical Burst Switching

Optical burst switching (OBS) has attracted interest as a transport network architecture for the future optical Internet. As OBS relies on statistical multiplexing efficient contention resolution is a key issue in order to achieve a low burst loss probability. First, this paper discusses options and key design parameters for contention resolution in OBS. Then, it evaluates the performance of OBS nodes which employ shared wavelength converter pools and simple fiber delay line (FDL) buffers. Finally, optimized strategies for the order of probing a wavelength converter pool and an FDL buffer for contention resolution are presented and compared. It is shown that these strategies can be used to optimize performance for a given, for example, minimal cost, dimensioning of the wavelength converter pool and the FDL buffer.