On the design of asynchronous optical packet switch architectures with shared delay lines and converters

Optical packet switching (OPS) is a promising technology to enable next-generation high-speed IP networks. A major issue in OPS is packet contention that occurs when two or more packets attempt to access the same output fiber. In such a case, packets may be dropped, leading to degraded overall switching performance. Several contention resolution techniques have been investigated in the literature including the use of fiber delay lines (FDLs), wavelength converters (WCs), and deflection routing. These solution typically induce extra complexity to the switch design. Accordingly, a key design objective for OPS is to reduce packet loss without increasing switching complexity and delay. In this paper, we investigate the performance of contention resolution in asynchronous OPS architectures with shared FDLs and WCs in terms of packet loss and average switching delay. In particular, an enhanced FDL-based and a novel Hybrid architecture with shared FLDs and WCs are proposed, and their packet scheduling algorithms are presented and evaluated. Extensive simulation studies show that the performance of proposed FDL-based architecture outperforms typical OPS architectures reported in the literature. In addition, it shown that, for the same packet loss ratio, the proposed hybrid architecture can achieve up to 30% reduction in the total number of ports and around 80% reduction in the overall length of fiber as compared to the FDL-based architectures.     

OPTIMIZATION OF WDM OPTICAL PACKET SWITCHES WITH SPARSE WAVELENGTH CONVERTERS AND NON-DEGENERATE FIBER DELAY-LINES

This paper investigates the untraditional approach of contention resolution in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) Optical Packet Switching (OPS). The most striking characteristics of the developed switch architecture are: (1) Contention resolution is achieved by a combined sharing of Fiber Delay-Lines (FDLs) and Tunable Optical Wavelength Converters (TOWCs); (2) FDLs are arranged in non-degenerate form, i.e., non-uniform distribution of the delay lines; (3) TOWCs just can perform wavelength conversion in partial continuous wavelength channels, i.e., sparse wavelength conversion. The concrete configurations of FDLs and TOWCs are described and analyzed under non-bursty and bursty traffic scenarios. Simulation results demonstrate that for a prefixed packet loss probability constraint, e.g., 10-6, the developed architecture provides a different point of view in OPS design. That is, combined sharing of FDLs and TOWCs can, effectively, obtain a good tradeoff between the switch size and the cost, and TOWCs which are achieved in sparse form can also decrease the implementing complexity.     

Fiber-Optic Switch Based on Fiber Bragg Gratings

This letter presents a design proposal of optical packet switch architecture which incorporates fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and fiber delay line (FDL) to resolve contention among packets. The main feature of the architecture is the efficient use of FBG to create the buffer and there is no requirement of demux and splitter inside the buffer as in most of the conventional optical packet switch (OPS) architectures. Thus, the buffer is simplified in terms of required number of components used to create buffer. The FBG inside the buffer is a new approach towards buffering structure. Finally, comparative study of the proposed architecture with other architectures is presented.      

Traffic models for slotted optical packet switched networks

Optical packet switching (OPS) has emerged as a promising architecture for the future all-optical network scenario. In order to have a successful deployment of OPS networks, several networking issues must be resolved, e.g., how to resolve contentions and how to provide Quality-of-Service (QoS) differentiation. Such networking studies often rely on teletraffic analysis in order to quantify the performance of the OPS network. In this paper, we introduce new and review existing traffic models for slotted buffer-less OPS networks. In particular, we present a novel asymmetric traffic model, suitable for studying the effects of non-uniform traffic. Optical packet switches with and without wavelength conversion are studied. Numerical evaluations and a comparison study of the presented traffic models are reported. The main contributions of this paper are to advance the field of establishing a theoretical framework for slotted OPS networks and to act as a tutorial for teletraffic engineering in such networks. http://www.item.ntnu.no/~haraldov.     

Loss estimation and control mechanism in bufferless optical packet-switched networks based on multilayer perceptron

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are well-known estimators for the output of broad range of complex systems and functions. In this paper, a common ANN architecture called multilayer perceptron (MLP) is used as a fast optical packet loss rate (OPLR) estimator for bufferless optical packet-switched (OPS) networks. Considering average loads at the ingress switches of an OPS network, the proposed estimator estimates total OPLR as well as ingress OPLRs (the OPLR of optical packets sent from individual ingress switches). Moreover, a traffic policing algorithm called OPLRC is proposed to control ingress OPLRs in bufferless slotted OPS networks with asymmetric loads. OPLRC is a centralized greedy algorithm which uses estimated ingress OPLRs of a trained MLP to tag some optical packets at the ingress switches as eligible for drop at the core switches in case of contention. This will control ingress OPLRs of un-tagged optical packets within the specified limits while giving some chance for tagged optical packets to reach their destinations. Eventually, the accuracy of the proposed estimator along with the performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by extensive simulations. In terms of the algorithm, the results show that OPLRC is capable of controlling ingress OPLRs of un-tagged optical packets with an acceptable accuracy.     

Architecture, design, and modeling of the OPSnet asynchronous optical packet switching node

An all-optical packet-switched network supporting multiple services represents a long-term goal for network operators and service providers alike. The EPSRC-funded OPSnet project partnership addresses this issue from device through to network architecture perspectives with the key objective of the design, development, and demonstration of a fully operational asynchronous optical packet switch (OPS) suitable for 100 Gb/s dense-wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) operation. The OPS is built around a novel buffer and control architecture that has been shown to be highly flexible and to offer the promise of fair and consistent packet delivery at high load conditions with full support for quality of service (QoS) based on differentiated services over generalized multiprotocol label switching.     

Buffering management schemes for optical variable length packets under limited packet sorting

This paper studies several buffering strategies for optical packet switching (OPS) under limited packet sorting. Three schemes, which are able to sort newly arrived packets based on packet’s length as well as capability of finding the minimum buffer occupancy, are analyzed and compared. Results show that all three proposed schemes could improve OPS performance considerably in terms of probability of packet loss (PPL) and probability of information loss (PIL). In addition, the simulation results show that not all the newly arrived packets need to be sorted in order to obtain minimum packet loss probability. Since the amount of packets and thus the packet processing time is significant in OPS, it is possible that not all the packets can be processed using one of the buffering strategies. An important finding of this paper is that if only 10% of the packets are sorted, the PPL is comparable to the minimum packet loss value obtained when 100% of the packets are sorted.     

An effective buffering architecture for optical packet switching networks

A novel optical buffering architecture for Optical Packet Switching (OPS) networks is proposed in this article. The architecture which adopts a fiber-sharing mechanism aims at solving the problem of using a large number of fiber delay lines that are used to solve resource contention in the core node in OPS networks. The new architecture employs fewer fiber delay lines compared to other simple architectures, but can achieve the same performance. Simulation results and analysis show that the new architecture can decrease packet loss probability effectively and achieve reasonable performance in average packet delay.

A novel architecture of optical code label generation and recognition for optical packet switching

A novel architecture of optical code (OC) label generation and recognition for optical packet switching (OPS) by using super structured fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG) is proposed.The OC label is generated and recognized by a label generator and recognizer,respectively.The label generator is composed of N encoders in parallel,and it can generate 2N kinds of serial optical code labels (SOCLs) for indicating 2N network routing information.The label recognizer can decode SOCLs by N decoders in parallel and provides label information to the switching control unit so that clock information is not required during the decoding process.In the switch nodes,handling of the high-speed information payload stream and the recognition of the OC label are performed in the optical domain,while processing of the routing information remains in the electrical domain.This approach could be a promising solution for an OPS network with high capacity,good quality of service (QoS),multi-service function and high security.In this experiment,we demonstrate 40Gbps 256 label optical packet switching that employs clockless SOCL processing.     

High-Performance Hybrid-Switching Optical Router for IP over WDM Integration

Because pure electrical routers with their bandwidth limitations can hardly keep up with the tremendous traffic growth in the Internet, optical routers based on various optical switching techniques including optical wavelength switching (OWS), optical burst switching (OBS), and optical packet switching (OPS) have been suggested to cope with this problem. However, because OBS and OPS are both in their early experimental phase and OWS only provides coarse granularity switching, a hybrid-switching optical router with combined OWS and electrical packet switching is a necessity in order to accommodate the entire multi-granularity traffic with multi-service requirements in a cost-effective manner. Its coordination capability of optical circuit switching and electrical packet switching enables efficient/intelligent usage of network resources. In this paper, we first review research and developments of such IP routers employing optical switching/interconnection techniques and examine how these techniques can be used inside routers to scale node capacity and to improve optical Internet performance. We also present and study the performance of a terabit optical router with an optical-electrical hybrid-switching fabric. The node architecture is based on the idea of IP over WDM integration with Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS). The network-level performance evaluations show that the proposed hybrid-switching optical router is a cost-effective solution for building the next generation GMPLS-based multi-granularity optical Internet.     

Contribution to future metropolitan access network planning considering link failures in photonic switched networks

Photonic switching for traffic optimization in Metropolitan Access Optical Networks using technologies of optical packet/burst switching (OPS/OBS) seems to be a future-proof solution considering high capacity and the highly variable traffic in these networks. Looking for this future, we propose a study based on the analyze of survivability of traffic unconsidering protection mechanism but considering mesh and ring efficient topologies with node architecture to OPS. The results are obtained through computer modeling and simulation. The main parameters analyzed are as follows: capacity, average number of hops, packet loss fraction, and link utilization for each topology. These parameters are adopted to evaluate the performance of each topology considering failures. Minimum electronic buffering is included at node ingress (client side) to avoid packet loss in the access to the optical layer: high throughput and low latency. It is also observed that optical buffering is not necessary for adequate network performance.     

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.     

一种配置有固定波长变换器的OPS节点性能分析

提出一种新型的光分组交换（OPS）节点结构,即OFBFWC（Optical packet switch with Feedback Buffer and Fixed Wavelength Converter）交换结构,它使用固定波长变换器和反馈式的光缓存来解决光分组的冲突。为了提高OFBFWC的性能,还提出一种有效的控制算法。最后,使用仿真实验的方法对OFBFWC的性能进行评估。     

核心通信网的光分组交换

文章首先简单说明了新一代通信网需要使用分级交换的由来。接着详细叙述了光分组交换在未来光通信网的应用，包括节点结构、分组格式、输入、输出接口和一些特别重要的技术，如再生、同步、信头处理、缓冲、空间交换和波长转换等。     

不同长度分布下的光分组交换性能研究

通过分析不同分组长度分布(PLD)对光分组交换(OPS)性能的影响,以便为OPS在不同长度业务下配置不同的冲突解决方案.研究了光分组在固定长度分布、指数分布和因特网经验长度分布下分别对没有光纤延迟线(FDL)和有FDL下的OPS的性能影响.分析和仿真表明,因特网经验长度分布的业务在没有FDL缓存的条件下,获得最低的分组丢失率(PLR)性能;而固定长度分布的业务,仅在OPS配置有FDL时才可以获得最低的PLR性能.     

Unavailability analysis of long-haul networks

Network survivability is a key concern in today's network, and will become increasingly important in future optical networks as they carry ever more traffic. Networks are also becoming more complex, with the requirement for increased functionality. Currently, there is a lack of understanding in the industry as to the exact relationship between the choice of network architecture and the meeting of a set availability objective. This paper analyses a number of long-haul network architectures from an unavailability point of view. The long-haul networks analyzed include: networks with diversity, networks with restoration capability, and networks with survivability. Derivations are given for each architecture; formulas for 2 and 4-fiber rings, and dual fed routing are new. A hypothetical reference connection (HRX) and its unavailability objectives are used as references. Networks with restoration capability and networks with survivability meet the proposed objective. Self-healing rings (both 2 and 4-fiber bidirectional line switched rings) and dual fed systems offer the highest level of survivability, by eliminating service impacts caused by cable cuts and equipment failures     

Demonstration of bufferless optical packet switch with recursive stages of parametric wavelength converter

We demonstrate in an experiment an optical packet switching (OPS) using recursive parametric wavelength converters (PWCs) which uses the combination of two or more PWCs for wavelength conversions. The PWCs, which are based on four-wave mixing in highly nonlinear fibers, are possible for multiple wavelength conversion, allowing a share-per-node switching scheme, and thus significantly reducing the number of wavelength converters. Detailed demonstration of a developed OPS prototype using the joint of two PWCs indicates the generation of various wavelength conversion patterns which play an important role for OPS performance. The converted signals after two stages of PWC are obtained with error-free operations and low power penalties (BER=10^?9) of about 2.0 dB. Numerical results also show significant improvement in packet blocking probability by the proposed recursive PWC-based OPS in comparison with the previous non-recursive schemes.     

Security and Authentication in the Mobile World

Mobile systems are evolving into data centric, packet switched,multiacess networks. New types of security threats are emerging in thesenew networks. From the user point of view a seamless solution for thesethreats is required. This paper presents a vision of network convergenceand its implications to authentication and authorization solutions.Security requirements are discussed and current authentication solutionsin GSM, UMTS and operator wireless local area networks (OWLAN) areintroduced. All-IP multimedia session security is discussed.Implications of AdHoc network architecture into security requirement arediscussed.     

基于弹性分组环的城域网解决方案

文章介绍了弹性分组环的技术特点及其在网络中的应用,从实现的角度探讨了目前弹性分组环在城域网中的3种主流解决方案,包括采用RPR嵌入路由交换平台方式、采用纯RPR设备方式、采用RPR嵌入MSTP方式,解决方案涉及系统架构、网络应用环境、业务提供等方面.进而,文章在对3种解决方案进行对比的基础上,探讨了基于弹性分组环的城域网的发展趋势.     

Scheduling Algorithms for a Slotted Packet Switch with either Fixed or Variable Length Packets

We address the problem of congestion resolution in optical packet switching (OPS). We consider a fairly generic all-optical packet switch architecture with a feedback optical buffer constituted of fiber delay lines (FDL). Two alternatives of switching granularity are addressed for a switch operating in a slotted transfer mode: switching at the slot level (i.e., fixed length packets of a single slot) or at the burst level (variable length packets that are integer multiples of the slot length). For both cases, we show that in spite of the limited queuing resources, acceptable performance in terms of packet loss can be achieved for reasonable hardware resources with an appropriate design of the time/wavelength scheduling algorithms. Depending on the switching units (slots or bursts), an adapted scheduling algorithm needs to be deployed to exploit the bandwidth and buffer resources most efficiently.