Hybrid offset‐time and burst assembly algorithm (H‐OTBA) for delay sensitive applications over optical burst switching networks

Optical burst switching (OBS) is the most favourable switching paradigm for future all‐optical networks. Burst assembly is the first process in OBS and it consists of aggregating clients packets into bursts. Assembled bursts wait for an offset time before being transmitted to their intended destinations. Offset time is used to allow burst control packet reserve required resources prior to burst arrival. Burst assembly process and offset‐time create extra delay in OBS networks. To make OBS suitable for real time applications, this extra latency needs to be controlled. This paper proposes and evaluates a novel offset time and burst assembly scheme to address this issue. Constant bit rate (CBR) traffic that has stringent end‐to‐end delay QoS requirements is used in this study. The proposed scheme is called hybrid offset‐time and burst assembly algorithm (H‐OTBA). The objective of the paper is achieved by controlling maximum burst transfer delay parameters of CBR. The proposed scheme was evaluated via network simulation. Simulation results demonstrate that, H‐OTBA has effectively reduced end‐to‐end delay for CBR traffic compared with current solutions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the analysis of burst-assembly delay in OBS networks and applications in delay-based service differentiation

In Optical Burst Switching (OBS), packets travel through the network core as part of longer-size optical bursts, which do not suffer electronic conversion until they reach an eggress point. Typically, such optical bursts comprise tens or hundreds of packets, which are assembled/deassembled at border nodes. During the burst-formation process, each arriving packet must wait until the final burst is complete, which clearly adds an extra delay on each packet in the burst, especially on those arriving earlier. However, such burst-assembly delay may be excessive for the appropriate performance of certain applications, mainly real-time interactive ones. This work’s findings are twofold: first, it characterises the burst-assembly delay distribution of each packet in a burst arisen by the main assembly algorithms found in the literature; and, second, it introduces a new burst-assembly strategy that takes into account the particular delay constrains of packets in the formation of optical bursts, along with a detailed study of its properties. This work has been funded by the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia” of Spain under grant TEC2006-03246.     

光突发交换网络的突发包组装和调度

光突发交换(OBS)由于结合了光线路交换和光分组交换的优点并且改进了两者的不足之处,成为实现IP over WDM的重要手段。主要研究实现光突发包在边缘路由器的组装生成和调度机制。通过模拟的方法研究边缘路由器的输出性能,包括输出流量的形状和时延特性。结果显示,不同服务等级的时延要求可以通过组装控制输出流的最大时延得以保证。同时边缘路由器组装和分配信道缓冲区设置和优先分配机制可以影响到输出光突发包的长度和突发度。     

Traffic statistics and performance evaluation in optical burst switched networks

Optical burst switching (OBS) is a promising switching technology to exploit the potential benefits of optical communication and, at the same time, support statistical multiplexing of data traffic at a fine granularity. To quantify its benefits, the paper describes several typical burst assembly algorithms and studies their impact on the assembled burst traffic characteristics as well as the performance of TCP traffic. Also described is a proactive burst scheduling algorithm, called burst overlap reduction algorithm (BORA), which schedules locally assembled bursts in such a way as to reduce burst contention at downstream nodes in OBS networks. Furthermore, to provide analytical insights into performance evaluation of OBS networks, a burst loss model at an OBS node and its extension to different reservation protocols are presented.     

光突发交换网中的智能组包研究

光突发交换(OBS)相对传统的电路交换方式具有更高的传输效率和更短的网络时延,而相对于未来网络的发展趋势光分组交换,光突发交换具备更现实的可行性.在OBS中,突发汇聚是一个很关键的技术,它对OBS网络的性能有着重要的影响,在本文中,我们对突发汇聚机制进行了较深入的研究,并提出了一种新的突发汇聚算法,它对抑制网络流量的自相似性,提高突发传输效率和避免在不同节点由于突发同步所引起的带宽资源竞争都有较好的结果.     

Service differentiation scheme in OBS networks

In order to achieve service differentiation, especially loss differentiation, in optical burst switching (OBS) networks, we propose a dynamic fiber delay line (FDL) partitioning algorithm, which divides FDLs into several groups over a feed-forward output buffering architecture. In the proposed scheme, a plurality of traffic classes and FDL groups can be considered, and each FDL group is assigned to traffic classes, so that the target loss probabilities of classes are guaranteed. Also, the optimal number of FDLs for each FDL group by the proposed algorithm is decided in Poisson traffic environments. The extensive simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic FDL partitioning algorithm for the loss differentiation in OBS networks.     

Control architecture in optical burst-switched WDM networks

Optical burst switching (OBS) is a promising solution for building terabit optical routers and realizing IP over WDM. In this paper, we describe the basic concept of OBS and present a general architecture of optical core routers and electronic edge routers in the OBS network. The key design issues related to the OBS are also discussed, namely, burst assembly (burstification), channel scheduling, burst offset-time management, and some dimensioning rules. A nonperiodic time-interval burst assembly mechanism is described. A class of data channel scheduling algorithms with void filling is proposed for optical routers using a fiber delay line buffer. The LAUC-VF (latest available unused channel with void filling) channel scheduling algorithm is studied in detail. Initial results on the burst traffic characteristics and on the performance of optical routers in the OBS network with self-similar traffic as inputs are reported in the paper.     

A unified study of burst assembly in optical burst switching networks

This article presents a comprehensive study of burst assembly in optical burst switching (OBS) networks. This investigation aims to provide a unified study of burst assembly algorithms. After analyses of conventional assembly algorithms, we present an adaptive burst assembly algorithm: data-length time-lag product assembly algorithm. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm takes the real-time traffic state into account to adapt burst length and its injected intervals. It obtains a more acceptable performance. Moreover, we investigated the impact of burst assembly applied at the edge of OBS networks. We analyze the Hurst parameter of the input traffic to the output traffic that results from the burst assembly. Two formulas are presented to describe changes of the Hurst parameter. Theoretical results are validated through extensive simulations in time-based, length-based, and adaptive assembly algorithms, respectively.     

Performance comparison of OBS and SONET in metropolitan ring networks

This paper explores the feasibility of deploying optical burst switching (OBS) in metropolitan area networks (MANs) as an alternative to synchronous optical network (SONET), over wavelength-division multiplexing. We present a comparison between two OBS architectures (with centralized and distributed scheduling schemes), SONET, and next-generation SONET (NG-SONET), respectively. We quantify some of the performance metrics such as end-to-end delay and loss rate when supporting Ethernet traffic in metro ring networks. Our simulation results show that OBS offers significant performance improvement over SONET and NG-SONET. In general, the OBS architecture with distributed scheduling has a superior delay performance, whereas the OBS architecture with centralized scheduling has a better loss metric.     

对光突发交换网中组装算法的改进研究

提出了一种光突发交换网中基于自适应门限的改进型突发组装算法,并且对改进算法进行了仿真研究。研究结果表明,改进算法生成的突发包大小均匀,能够显著地抑制突发包包长的变化;并且该算法能够降低流量的自相似性,改善流量的性能,通过与以往同类的典型算法比较,可以看出该算法能更有效地实现流量整形,因而有利于进一步提高OBS网络的性能。     

On the blocking time distribution of core OBS switches

Given the bufferless nature of Optical Burst- Switched networks, data bursts are either transmitted or dropped; the latter typically occurs when all the wavelengths of a given output port are occupied. Clearly, the amount of time during which a given output port is blocked and cannot schedule incoming data bursts is a key performance measure of OBS networks. This work shows that, under Poissonian burst arrivals, the blocking time distribution of a given output port in an OBS node approaches the exponential distribution as the number of wavelengths increases. It is further shown that this behavior remains regardless of the size distribution of incoming bursts, and therefore, regardless of the burst-assembly algorithms employed at the border nodes. Finally, this result is also applied to the characterization of the amount of overspill traffic, that is, the number of bursts that arrive within a blocked period, and therefore must be either dropped or diverted over alternative routes.     

The study of QoS guarantee in the optical burst switching internet backbone

Optical switching technology can be categorized into optical circuit switching (OCS), optical packet switching (OPS) and optical burst switching (OBS). OCS is suitable for large amounts of data transmission; however, the channel utilization is inefficient when the traffic flows are intermittent. OPS can be easily adapted to any higher layer and is suitable for bursty traffic, but it requires a highly complex technology and optical buffer. The new switching paradigm, OBS, can provide higher bandwidth utilization and meanwhile avoid the complexity in OPS technology.In this paper, we investigate how the quality of service (QoS) can be guaranteed and reliable transmission can be supported in the OBS-based Internet backbone. We propose the adjustable-time-counter-based (ATCB) burst assembly and the non-real time packet retransmission mechanisms and apply them in the ingress router of the OBS Internet backbone to guarantee the quality of real time applications and lossless requirement of non-real time services. Moreover, traffic shaped is performed for real time packets in the egress router so that the real time property is preserved with a low jitter. Simulation results show that the burst blocking probability using the ATCB burst assembly is improved, compared with the time-counter-based (TCB) and burst-length-threshold-based (BLTB) mechanisms. The delay, loss and jitter of real time service conform to the QoS requirement. Meanwhile, the delay of non-real time service also falls in the acceptable range.     

Analysis of blocking probability in optical burst switched networks

In this article, we study the blocking probability in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) based asynchronous bufferless optical burst switched (OBS) network, equipped with a bank of wavelength converters. Our analysis encloses two wavelength reservation schemes JIT (just-in-time) and JET (just-enough-time), and two-class data rate. The contribution of our work includes: (i) derivation of an accurate model for blocking probability of lower priority bursts in case of a non-preempted model; (ii) provision of the analytical model for blocking probability calculation in the OBS network, which includes these variables: two signaling schemes, partial wavelength conversion, two-class data, traffic intensity, cross-connect speed, number of wavelengths in WDM fiber, number of fibers in the node, number of wavelength converters, and number of nodes in the path; (iii) simulation results, which show that partial wavelength conversion provide quite satisfactory quality of service. We compare performance in a single OBS node, under various sets of parameter values. The OBS network shows great flexibility in terms of used multiclass data, and there is no dependence on the used higher layer protocol.     

Comparative Account of Bandwidth Efficiency in Optical Burst Switching and Optical Circuit Switching Networks

The performance of Optical Burst Switched (OBS) networks is compared to that of Optical Circuit Switched (OCS) networks in terms of bandwidth efficiency. Two traffic flow models are employed to investigate the effects of traffic grooming, packetization, buffering and burst assembly on bandwidth efficiency and utilization. Traffic is represented by fluid-flow continuous bit streams in the first model and by packet-based discrete flows in the second model. It is shown that the parameters of traffic characteristics and burst assembly have significant impact on the relative bandwidth savings of OBS. The bandwidth efficiency of OBS compared to OCS should not be taken for granted and has to be examined carefully on a case by case basis.     

New assembly techniques and fast reservation protocols for optical burst switched networks based on traffic prediction

We propose new burst assembly schemes and fast reservation (FR) protocols for Optical Burst Switched (OBS) networks that are based on traffic prediction. The burst assembly schemes aim at minimizing (for a given burst size) the average delay of the packets incurred during the burst assembly process, while the fast reservation protocols aim at further reducing the end-to-end delay of the data bursts. The burst assembly techniques use a linear prediction filter to estimate the number of packet arrivals at the ingress node in the following interval, and launch a new burst into the network when a certain criterion, different for each proposed scheme, is met. The fast reservation protocols use prediction filters to estimate the expected length of the burst and the time needed for the burst assembly process to complete. A Burst Header Packet (BHP) packet carrying these estimates is sent before the burst is completed, in order to reserve bandwidth at intermediate nodes for the time interval the burst is expected to pass from these nodes. Reducing the packet aggregation delay and the time required to perform the reservations, reduces the total time needed for a packet to be transported over an OBS network and is especially important for real-time applications. We evaluate the performance of the proposed burst assembly schemes and show that a number of them outperform the previously proposed timer-based, length-based and average delay-based burst assembly schemes. We also look at the performance of the fast reservation (FR) protocols in terms of the probability of successfully establishing the reservations required to transport the burst.     

A Data Burst Assembly Algorithm in Optical Burst Switching Networks

Presently, optical burst switching (OBS) technology is under study as a promising solution for the backbone of the optical Internet in the near future because OBS eliminates the optical buffer problem at the switching node with the help of no optical/electro/optical conversion and guarantees class of service without any buffering. To implement the OBS network, there are a lot of challenging issues to be solved. The edge router, burst offset time management, and burst assembly mechanism are critical issues. In addition, the core router needs data burst and control header packet scheduling, a protection and restoration mechanism, and a contention resolution scheme. In this paper, we focus on the burst assembly mechanism. We present a novel data burst generation algorithm that uses hysteresis characteristics in the queueing model for the ingress edge node in optical burst switching networks. Simulation with Poisson and self‐similar traffic models shows that this algorithm adaptively changes the data burst size according to the offered load and offers high average data burst utilization with a lower timer operation. It also reduces the possibility of a continuous blocking problem in the bandwidth reservation request, limits the maximum queueing delay, and minimizes the required burst size by lifting up data burst utilization for bursty input IP traffic.     

光突发交换网络中一种基于负载平衡的路由机制

光突发交换(OBS)是实现下一代光互联网技术中的一种极具前景的方案.OBS网络中采用的路由机制多是最短路径优先的路由选择机制,这种路由机制本身的缺陷会使网络有较大的阻塞概率,不能实时反映网络流量的变化,同时对不同的网络拓扑的适应性较差.本文提出了一种OBS网络中能实现负载平衡的路由机制,对一个请求选择一条可以使网络中各链路使用波长数的统计方差最小的路由.仿真结果表明,该方法在阻塞概率方面要优于最短路径路由机制;而在传输延迟性能方面接近于最短路径路由机制,同时对于不同的网络拓扑以及节点流量的变化都具有一定的适应性.     

Contention resolution and QoS provisioning using sparse fiber delay lines in WDM networks

In this paper, we combine fiber delay lines (FDL) and optical wavelength conversion (OWC) as the solution for the burst contention problem in optical burst switching (OBS). We present a placement algorithm, k-WDS, for the sparse placement of FDLs at a set of selected nodes in the network. The algorithm can handle both uniform and non-uniform traffic patterns. Our extensive performance tests show that k-WDS provides more efficient placement of optical fiber delay lines than the well-known approach of placing the resources at nodes with the highest experienced burst loss. Performance results are also given to compare the benefit of using FDLs alone, OWCs alone, as well as a mixture of both FDLs and OWCs. A new algorithm, A-WDS, for the placement of an arbitrary numbers of FDLs and OWCs is presented and evaluated under different uniform and non-uniform traffic loads using network simulation of the NSFNET topology and randomly generated graphs. The paper is concluded by presenting the design of a cost-effective optical switch equipped with variable-delay FDL bank. Based on the switch design, a scheme to provide differentiated services for multiple classes of traffic is presented and evaluated.     

On traffic scaling transformation at ingress optical burst switches

Ingress nodes in optical burst switching (OBS) networks are responsible for assembling burst from incoming packets and forwarding these bursts into the OBS network core. Changes in the statistical characteristics of a traffic stream at an ingress switch can affect the capacity of the network to provide quality of service. Therefore, the statistical characteristics of the output flow of an ingress node must be known for appropriate network dimensioning. This paper evaluates the impact of burst assembly mechanisms on the scaling properties of multifractal traffic flows. Results show that the factor most relevant in determining the nature of the output traffic flow is the relationship between the cut-off time scale of the input traffic and the time scale of assembly threshold. Moreover, a procedure for the detection of the cut-off scale of incoming traffic is introduced.     

Optical burst switching: a viable solution for terabit IP backbone

Wavelength-division multiplexing has emerged as an important physical layer technology. Optical transmission provides a physical layer capable of carrying bits at the speed at the order of a gigabit per second. Optical burst switching is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of conventional WDM deployment, such as lack of fine bandwidth granularity in wavelength routing and electronic speed bottlenecks in SONET/SDH. We describe an architecture for IP network over the OBS WDM transmission core. The use of MPLS-type technique for forwarding data bursts and the inclusion of a medium access control layer between the optical (WDM) and IP layers are the key ingredients of the proposed architecture. In particular, the architecture is based on provisioning MPLS paths, also called label switched paths, of desired quality of service through the OBS WDM transmission core. The MAC layer performs various OBS-specific functions, such as burst assembly, burst scheduling, and offset setting/traffic shaping. While burst assembly and burst scheduling are relatively straightforward, we point out that the offset setting strategy has significant impact on the performance of IP network operating over OBS WDM core. We describe a shaping scheme to set the offset, an important system parameter for OBS, between the successive data bursts of a given data stream (label switched path) and their associated control packets. This scheme results in robust operation of the network and also facilitates traffic engineering. Guidelines are provided for implementing various IP QoS mechanisms in the optical backbone using OBS.