Impairment constraint multicasting in translucent WDM networks: architecture, network design and multicasting routing

The popularity of broadband streaming applications requires communication networks to support high-performance multicasting at the optical layer. Suffering from transmission impairments in multi-hop all-optical (transparent) WDM multicasting networks, the signal may be degraded beyond the receivable margin at some multicast destinations. To guarantee the signal quality, we introduce a translucent WDM multicasting network to regenerate the degraded signals at some switching nodes with electronic 3R (reamplification, reshaping and retiming) functionality. The translucent network is built by employing three kinds of multicasting capable switching architectures: (1) all-optical multicasting capable cross connect (oMC-OXC), (2) electronic switch and (3) translucent multicasting capable cross connect (tMC-OXC). Among them both the electronic switch and tMC-OXC are capable of electronic 3R regeneration. Furthermore, we propose a multicast-capable nodes placement algorithm based on regeneration weight, and two multicasting routing algorithms called nearest hub first and nearest on tree hub first to provide signal-quality guaranteed routes for the multicasting requests. The numerical simulation on two typical mesh networks shows that it is sufficient to equip 30% of the nodes or less with signal-regeneration capability to guarantee the signal quality.     

多媒体通信的多播路由算法

在多媒体通信网的实际应用中,多播(multicasting)技术日显重要,在实际网络中,网络节点具备不同的多播能力,有些节点不具备多播能力,而具备多播能力的节点要限制其复制信息的数量,即节点多播能力受限,该文用节点的度约束来表示每个节点的多播能力;此外网络中的很多业务要求信息从源节点传送到目的节点的时延受限;因此该文研究带度约束和时延约束的多播路由问题,给出了一种Lagrange松弛法,能够较好地解决这类问题。     

Avoidance of multicast incapable branching nodes for multicast routing in WDM networks

In this article we study the multicast routing problem in all-optical WDM networks under the spare light splitting constraint. To implement a multicast session, several light-trees may have to be used due to the limited fanouts of network nodes. Although many multicast routing algorithms have been proposed in order to reduce the total number of wavelength channels used (total cost) for a multicast session, the maximum number of wavelengths required in one fiber link (link stress) and the end-to-end delay are two parameters which are not always taken into consideration. It is known that the shortest path tree (SPT) results in the optimal end-to-end delay, but it can not be employed directly for multicast routing in sparse light splitting WDM networks. Hence, we propose a novel wavelength routing algorithm which tries to avoid the multicast incapable branching nodes (MIBs, branching nodes without splitting capability) in the shortest-path-based multicast tree to diminish the link stress. Good parts of the shortest-path-tree are retained by the algorithm to reduce the end-to-end delay. The algorithm consists of tree steps: (1) a DijkstraPro algorithm with priority assignment and node adoption is introduced to produce a SPT with up to 38% fewer MIB nodes in the NSF topology and 46% fewer MIB nodes in the USA Longhaul topology, (2) critical articulation and deepest branch heuristics are used to process the MIB nodes, (3) a distance-based light-tree reconnection algorithm is proposed to create the multicast light-trees. Extensive simulations demonstrate the algorithm’s efficiency in terms of link stress and end-to-end delay.     

Multicasting in a class of multicast-capable WDM networks

Multicast is the ability to transmit information from a single source node to multiple destination nodes. Multicast can be supported more efficiently in optical domain by utilizing the inherent light-splitting capacity of optical switches than by copying data in electronic domain. In this paper, we study multicast communication in a class of multicast-capable WDM networks (i.e., the networks that have light splitting switches) with regular topologies under some commonly used routing algorithms. Upper and lower bounds on the minimum number of wavelengths required are determined for a network to be rearrangeable for arbitrary multicast assignments, and compared with those WDM networks without light splitting switches. Our results indicate that in most of the networks we study, the number of wavelengths required can be significantly reduced by utilizing light splitting switches     

Multicast wavelength assignment with sparse wavelength converters to maximize the network capacity using ILP formulation in WDM mesh networks

In general, multicast routing and wavelength assignment (MC-RWA) can be subdivided in routing and wavelength assignment issues in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) mesh networks. Previous studies on WDM multicast have mainly focused on WDM multicast routing. The multicast wavelength assignment problem is studied in this paper. A unicast routing path can be established by a lightpath in an all-optical network. However, in the multicasting case, a multicast routing tree can be established by a single light-tree or several lightpaths, or a combination of several light-trees and lightpaths. We propose a wavelength assignment algorithm for finding an optimal combination of lightpaths and light-trees to construct a newly required multicast session. First of all, two cost functions are given to evaluate the establishing cost for each feasible wavelength, and then find a set of wavelengths that covers all destinations with the minimal cost using Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation. We focus on maximizing the total number of users served in a multicast session and the network capacity. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve system resource utilization and reduce the blocking probability compared with the First-Fit algorithm.This research was partially supported by the Grant of National Science Council, R.O.C. (NSC 94-2745-E-155-007-URD).     

k元n方网络中的优化多播策略

该文提出了一种在基于虫孔交换的k元n方网络中实现并发多播通信的有效策略。该策略通过引入分区的概念,把整个网络划分成多个通信区域而提高了多播的并行性。在该策略下,结合自适应单播路由生成的多播路由算法能够实现低延迟,低标准差和高吞吐率的多播通信,且不需要引入任何附加硬件需求。该文给出了在512个节点的三维torus网络中的仿真结果,验证了该策略的有效性。     

A novel efficient multicast routing algorithm in sparse splitting optical networks

The advances in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technology are expected to facilitate bandwidth-intensive multicast applications through light splitting. Due to complexity and cost constraints, light splitting (or optical multicast) nodes are sparsely configured in a practical WDM network. In this article, we investigate the multicast routing problem under the sparse light-splitting constraint. An efficient sparse splitting constrained multicast routing algorithm called Multicast Capable Node First Heuristic (MCNFH) is proposed. The key idea of MCNFH is to include the shortest path, that includes most of the multicast capable nodes, for configuring the multicast tree. Simulations and comparisons are used to demonstrate the performance of MCNFH. Simulation results and analysis show that MCNFH builds multicast trees with the least wavelength channel cost and with the smallest number of wavelengths used per link. In addition, MCNFH requires only one transmitter at the source node.     

The arrayed-waveguide grating-based single-hop WDM network: an architecture for efficient multicasting

Research on multicasting in single-hop wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) networks has so far focused on networks based on the passive star coupler (PSC), a broadcast device. It has been shown that multicasting performance is improved by partitioning multicast transmissions into multiple multicast copies. However, the channel bottleneck of the PSC, which does not allow for spatial wavelength reuse, restricts the multicast performance. We investigate multicasting in a single-hop WDM network that is based on an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG), a wavelength routing device that allows for spatial wavelength reuse. In our network, optical multicasting is enabled by wavelength-insensitive splitters that are attached to the AWG output ports. Multicasts are partitioned among the splitters and each multicast copy is routed to a different splitter by sending it on a different wavelength. We demonstrate that the spatial wavelength reuse in our network significantly improves the throughput-delay performance for multicast traffic. By means of analysis and simulations, we also demonstrate that, for a typical mix of unicast and multicast traffic, the throughput-delay performance is dramatically increased by transmitting multicast packets concurrently with control information in the reservation medium access control protocol of our AWG-based network.     

Performance analysis of multicast routing and wavelength assignment protocol with dynamic traffic grooming in WDM networks

The need for on‐demand provisioning of wavelength‐routed channels with service‐differentiated offerings within the transport layer has become more essential because of the recent emergence of high bit rate Internet protocol (IP) network applications. Diverse optical transport network architectures have been proposed to achieve the above requirements. This approach is determined by fundamental advances in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technologies. Because of the availability of ultra long‐reach transport and all‐optical switching, the deployment of all‐optical networks has been made possible. The concurrent transmission of multiple streams of data with the assistance of special properties of fiber optics is called WDM. The WDM network provides the capability of transferring huge amounts of data at high speeds by the users over large distances. There are several network applications that require the support of QoS multicast, such as multimedia conferencing systems, video‐on‐demand systems, real‐time control systems, etc. In a WDM network, the route decision and wavelength assignment of lightpath connections are based mainly on the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA). The multicast RWA's task is to maximize the number of multicast groups admitted or minimize the call‐blocking probability. The dynamic traffic‐grooming problem in wavelength‐routed networks is generally a two‐layered routing problem in which traffic connections are routed over lightpaths in the virtual topology layer and lightpaths are routed over physical links in the physical topology layer. In this paper, a multicast RWA protocol for capacity improvement in WDM networks is designed. In the wavelength assignment technique, paths from the source node to each of the destination nodes and the potential paths are divided into fragments by the junction nodes and these junction nodes have the wavelength conversion capability. By using the concept of fragmentation and grouping, the proposed scheme can be generally applied for the wavelength assignment of multicast in WDM networks. An optimized dynamic traffic grooming algorithm is also developed to address the traffic grooming problem in mesh networks in the multicast scenario for maximizing the resource utilization and minimizing the blocking probability. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic routing in translucent WDM optical networks: the intradomain case

Translucent wavelength-division multiplexing optical networks use sparse placement of regenerators to overcome physical impairments and wavelength contention introduced by fully transparent networks, and achieve a performance close to fully opaque networks at a much less cost. In previous studies, we addressed the placement of regenerators based on static schemes, allowing for only a limited number of regenerators at fixed locations. This paper furthers those studies by proposing a dynamic resource allocation and dynamic routing scheme to operate translucent networks. This scheme is realized through dynamically sharing regeneration resources, including transmitters, receivers, and electronic interfaces, between regeneration and access functions under a multidomain hierarchical translucent network model. An intradomain routing algorithm, which takes into consideration optical-layer constraints as well as dynamic allocation of regeneration resources, is developed to address the problem of translucent dynamic routing in a single routing domain. Network performance in terms of blocking probability, resource utilization, and running times under different resource allocation and routing schemes is measured through simulation experiments.     

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.     

Egocentric network focused community aware multicast routing for DTNs

Multicasting for delay-tolerant networks (DTNs) in sparse social network scenarios is a challenge due to the deficiency of end-to-end paths. In social network scenarios, the behaviors of their nodes are controlled by human beings, and node mobility is the same as that of humans. To design the multicasting algorithms for DTNs, therefore, it would be promising to capture the intrinsic characteristics of relationships among these nodes. In this paper, multicasting in DTNs is regarded as a message dissemination issue in social networks, and an egocentric network focused community aware multicast routing algorithm (ENCAR) is proposed. As distinct from some social-based routing algorithms which only focus on centrality analysis, ENCAR is an utility based and hierarchical routing algorithm, its utility function is constructed on the basis of centrality analysis and destination-oriented contact probability. We take notice of clustering phenomenon in social networks, and present the community aware forwarding schemes. In addition, to simulate the mobility of individuals in social networks, a novel community based random way point mobility model is also presented. In this paper, the performance of ENCAR is theoretically analyzed and further evaluated on simulator ONE. Simulation results show that ENCAR outperforms most of the existing multicast routing algorithms in routing overhead, on condition that delivery ratio is relatively high, with other significant parameters guaranteed to perform well.     

Minimum-energy multicast in mobile ad hoc networks using network coding

The minimum energy required to transmit one bit of information through a network characterizes the most economical way to communicate in a network. In this paper, we show that, under a layered model of wireless networks, the minimum energy-per-bit for multicasting in a mobile ad hoc network can be found by a linear program; the minimum energy-per-bit can be attained by performing network coding. Compared with conventional routing solutions, network coding not only allows a potentially lower energy-per-bit to be achieved, but also enables the optimal solution to be found in polynomial time, in sharp contrast with the NP-hardness of constructing the minimum-energy multicast tree as the optimal routing solution. We further show that the minimum energy multicast formulation is equivalent to a cost minimization with linear edge-based pricing, where the edge prices are the energy-per-bits of the corresponding physical broadcast links. This paper also investigates minimum energy multicasting with routing. Due to the linearity of the pricing scheme, the minimum energy-per-bit for routing is achievable by using a single distribution tree. A characterization of the admissible rate region for routing with a single tree is presented. The minimum energy-per-bit for multicasting with routing is found by an integer linear program. We show that the relaxation of this integer linear program, studied earlier in the Steiner tree literature, can now be interpreted as the optimization for minimum energy multicasting with network coding. In short, this paper presents a unifying study of minimum energy multicasting with network coding and routing.     

Online multicasting in WDM networks with shared light splitter bank

We study online multicasting in WDM networks with shared light splitter bank. Our objective is either to maximize the network throughput or to minimize the blocking probability. Due to the nature of dynamic requesting for network resources by online multicast requests, the network usually is unable to allocate the resources needed for each request in advance. Instead, it either accepts the request by building an economic multicast tree for the request, in terms of the utilization of the network resources if it has sufficient resources available, or rejects the request, otherwise. It is desirable that the cost of realizing each multicast request be minimized, and the network throughput will be maximized ultimately through the cost saving on each individual request. Since optical light splitting and wavelength conversion switching in optical networks is cost expensive and its fabrication is difficult, it is assumed that only a limited number of light splitters and wavelength converters are installed at a node, which will be shared by all the incoming signals at the node. In addition, it is further assumed that only a fraction of nodes in the network are installed with such optical switches. In this article we first propose a cost model for realizing an online multicast request under such network environments with limited light splitters and wavelength converters, which models the cost of utilization of network resources, particularly in modeling the light splitting and wavelength conversion ability at nodes. We then show that finding a cost-optimal multicast tree for a multicast request under the proposed cost model is NP-complete, and instead devise approximation and heuristic algorithms for it. We finally conduct experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithms are efficient and effective in terms of network throughput.

基于泛洪约束的MANET按需组播路由协议

降低路由控制开销是MANET网络组播路由协议节省节点能量,提高带宽利用率的关键因素之一。本文研究了组播路径近邻节点对路由维护的作用以及链路的连通性,分别提出了一个新的泛k-洪约束算法和一个混合泛洪模式。基于泛k-洪约束算法和混合泛洪模式,提出一个新的按需组播路由协议ODMRP-CF,ODMRP-CF协议通过选择k-路由近邻节点转发泛洪分组来提高泛洪效率。ODMRP-CF协议不仅保持了ODMRP协议所具有的简单,对节点移动鲁棒性好的优点,而且有效地降低了ODMRP-CF协议的控制开销。     

Layered-routing approach for solving multicast routing and wavelength assignment problem

We have developed a new layered-routing approach to address the problem of all-optical multicast over wavelength-routed wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. We model the WDM network as a collection of wavelength layers with sparse light- splitting (LS) and wavelength conversion (WC) capabilities. We apply the degree constraint technique to solve the problem. The approach is capable of completing multicast routing and wavelength assignment (MCRWA) in one step. We propose two generic frameworks to facilitate heuristic development. Any heuristic that is derived from either Prim’s or Kruskal’s algorithm can be easily imported to solve the MCRWA problem. One example is given for each framework to demonstrate heuristic development. Extensive simulations were carried out to measure the performance of heuristics developed from the frameworks. The results show that the STRIGENT scheme is suitable for hardware design and it is advisable to deploy light splitters and wavelength converters to the same node for better performance.     

A novel self-routing address scheme for all-optical packet-switched networks with arbitrary topologies

Pure all-optical packet-switched networks in which both header processing and packet routing are carried out in the optical domain overcome the bandwidth bottlenecks of optoelectronic conversions and therefore are expected to meet the needs of next generation high speed networks. Due to the limited capabilities of available optical logic devices, realizations of pure all-optical packet-switched networks in the near future will likely employ routing schemes that minimize the complexity of routing control. In this paper, we propose a novel self-routing scheme that identifies the output ports of the nodes in a network instead of the nodes themselves. The proposed address scheme requires single bit processing only and is applicable to small to medium size pure all-optical packet-switched networks with arbitrary topologies. Unlike traditional self-routing schemes, multiple paths between two nodes can be defined. An hierarchical address structure can be used in the proposed routing scheme to shorten the address.     

Virtual Source Based Multicast Routing in WDM Optical Networks

Wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) networks using wavelength-routing are considered to be potential candidates for the next generation wide-area backbone networks. Multicasting is the ability to transmit information from a single source node to multiple destination nodes and is becoming an important requirement in high-speed networks. As WDM technology matures and multicast applications become increasingly popular, supporting multicast routing at the WDM layer becomes an important and yet a challenging topic. This paper concerns with the problem of optical multicast routing in WDM networks. A few nodes in the network may have wavelength conversion and/or splitting capabilities. In this paper, a new multicast tree construction algorithm is proposed. This algorithm is based on a concept called virtual source. A virtual source is a node having both the splitting and wavelength conversion capabilities. By exploiting the presence of virtual source nodes, the proposed algorithm achieves improved performance. To further improve the performance, the algorithm assigns priorities to nodes based on their capabilities. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified through extensive simulation experiments.     

Multicast forwarding over ATM: Native approaches

Multicasting is growing in importance as new multimedia applications are devised. Throughout this article, multicasting is understood as the efficient multipoint-to-multipoint transmission of information (in terms of network resource consumption) between the members of a group. Most multicast services have been designed up to now to work over connectionless environments. The approach adopted by connection-oriented networks has been to try to imitate these connectionless multicast schemes with the aim of supporting IP multicast or network-layer broadcast. However, these solutions present drawbacks in terms of delay or signaling overhead. The goal of native ATM multicasting is to provide multicast communications support by taking into account the characteristics of ATM. Therefore, the design philosophy of multicast must be rethought by making it more suitable for connection-oriented networks. Native ATM multicasting is based on mechanisms implemented at the switches to allow the correct ATM-layer multicast forwarding of information. These mechanisms seek to avoid the delay and signaling problems of current solutions, e.g., LAN emulation and IP multicast over ATM. This article provides a survey of the literature on the strategies that offer multicast communications in ATM environments, with special stress on native ATM multicast forwarding mechanisms. Other aspects, such as signaling, quality of service, traffic control, and routing, are not addressed in detail in this article.     

Power aware scalable multicast routing protocol for MANETs

Multicasting is an effective way to provide group communication. In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), multicasting can support a wide variety of applications that are characterized by a close degree of collaboration. Since MANETs exhibit severe resource constraints such as battery power, limited bandwidth, dynamic network topology and lack of centralized administration, multicasting in MANETs become complex. The existing multicast routing protocols concentrate more on quality of service parameters like end‐to‐end delay, jitter, bandwidth and power. They do not stress on the scalability factor of the multicast. In this paper, we address the problem of multicast scalability and propose an efficient scalable multicast routing protocol called ‘Power Aware Scalable Multicast Routing Protocol (PASMRP)’ for MANETs. PASMRP uses the concept of class of service with three priority levels and local re‐routing to provide scalability. The protocol also ensures fair utilization of the resources among the nodes through re‐routing and hence the lifetime of the network is increased. The protocol has been simulated and the results show that PASMRP has better scalability and enhanced lifetime than the existing multicast routing protocols. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.