Reliable Multipath Provisioning for High-Capacity Backbone Mesh Networks

We investigate reliable multipath provisioning of traffic in high-capacity backbone mesh networks, e.g., next-generation SONET/SDH networks supporting virtual concatenation (VCAT). VCAT enables a connection to be inversely multiplexed on to multiple paths, a feature that may lead to significantly improved performance over conventional single-path provisioning. Other mesh networks such as those employing optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) can also benefit from this multipath provisioning approach. We propose effective multipath bandwidth as the metric to provision a connection while satisfying its reliability requirements (measured in terms of availability). We demonstrate that effective multipath bandwidth provides more flexibility and lower blocking probability without the cost and the complexity associated with traditional protection schemes developed for optical WDM and MPLS networks. We also investigate the practical problem of provisioning effective multipath bandwidth with cost constraints. We analyze the tractability of the problem and present a heuristic which results in significantly reduced number of blocked connections due to cost constraints.     

Efficient Distributed Bandwidth Management for MPLS Fast Reroute

As service providers move more applications to their IP/MPLS (multiple protocol label switching ) backbone networks, rapid restoration upon failure becomes more and more crucial. Recently MPLS fast reroute has attracted lots of attention as it was designed to meet the needs of real-time applications, such as voice over IP. MPLS fast reroute achieves rapid restoration by computing and signaling backup label switched path (LSP) tunnels in advance and re-directing traffic as close to failure point as possible. To provide a guarantee of bandwidth protection, extra bandwidth has to be reserved on backup paths. Using path merging technique as described in IETF RFC 4090 only, the network is able to share some bandwidth on common links among backup paths of the same service LSP, i.e., so-called intra-sharing. But no solution is provided on how to share bandwidth among backup paths of different service LSPs, i.e., so-called inter-sharing. In this paper, we provide an efficient distributed bandwidth management solution. This solution allows bandwidth sharing among backup paths of the same and different service LSPs, i.e., both intra-sharing and inter-sharing, with a guarantee of bandwidth protection for any single node/link failure. We also propose an efficient algorithm for backup path selection with the associated signaling extensions for additional information distribution and collection. To evaluate our schemes, we compare them via simulation with the basic MPLS fast reroute proposal, IETF RFC 4090, on two networks. Our simulation results show that using our bandwidth management scheme can significantly reduce restoration overbuild from about 250% to about 100%, and our optimized backup path selection can further reduce restoration overbuild to about 60%.     

Quality-of-Service Based Protection in MPLS Control WDM Mesh Networks

Intelligent methods for automatic protection and restoration are critical in optical transport mesh networks. This paper discusses the problem of quality-of-service (QoS)-based protection in terms of the protection-switching time and availability for end-to-end lightpaths in a WDM mesh network. We analyze the backup lightpath-sharing problem in such networks and study the correlation of the working lightpaths and the impact of the correlation on the sharing of the backup lightpaths. We present a multi-protocol-label-switching (MPLS) control-based fully distributed algorithm to solve the protection problem. The proposed algorithm includes intelligent and automatic procedures to set up, take down, activate, restore, and manage backup lightpaths. It greatly reduces the required resources for protection by allowing the sharing of network resources by multiple backup lightpaths. At the same time, it guarantees, if possible, to satisfy the availability requirement even with resource sharing by taking the correlation of working lightpaths into consideration. A simple analysis of the proposed algorithm in terms of computation time and message complexity indicates that the implementation of the algorithm is practical. The illustrative studies that compare the performance of 1:1, unlimited sharing, and QoS-based backup sharing algorithms indicate that QoS-based sharing achieves comparable performance as unlimited sharing, which is much better than the 1:1 backup scheme in terms of connection blocking probability, average number of connections in the network for a given offered load, and network resource utilization.     

On the resource efficiency of virtual concatenation in SDH/SONET mesh transport networks bearing protected scheduled connections

Virtual concatenation (VCAT) is a Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)/Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) network functionality recently standardized by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). VCAT provides the flexibility required to efficiently allocate network resources to Ethernet, Fiber Channel (FC), Enterprise System Connection (ESCON), and other important data traffic signals. In this article, we assess the resources' gain provided by VCAT with respect to contiguous concatenation (CCAT) in SDH/SONET mesh transport networks bearing protected scheduled connection demands (SCDs). As explained later, an SCD is a connection demand for which the set-up and tear-down dates are known in advance. We define mathematical models to quantify the add/drop and transmission resources required to instantiate a set of protected SCDs in VCAT- and CCAT-capable networks. Quantification of transmission resources requires a routing and slot assignment (RSA) problem to be solved. We formulate the RSA problem in VCAT- and CCAT-capable networks as two different combinatorial optimization problems: RSA in VCAT-capable networks (RSAv) and RSA in CCAT-capable networks (RSAc), respectively. Protection of the SCDs is considered in the formulations using a shared backup path protection (SBPP) technique. We propose a simulated annealing (SA)-based meta-heuristic algorithm to compute approximate solutions to these problems (i.e., solutions whose cost approximates the cost of the optimal ones). The gain in transmission resources and the cost structure of add/drop resources making VCAT-capable networks more economical are analyzed for different traffic scenarios.     

SDH以太共享环在城域网的应用

随着因特网和数据业务的爆炸性增长，城域网的主要业务正在从话音向数据转移。然而过去的城域传送网是为话音业务设计的，所以采用的是TDMM网络(SDH、SONET)。本首先介绍了基于SDH网络传送数据业务的几种新技术，如：POS、GFP、LCAS、RPR、共享以太环等，以及可以实现业务隔离、保证安全的VLAN、VLAN嵌套技术，然后对各种城域网数据传输技术进行了比较，最后分新了薪一代的MSTP设各府该具有的几个特点。     

A novel shared-path protection algorithm with correlated risk against multiple failures in flexible bandwidth optical networks

In this paper, to decrease the traffic loss caused by multiple link failures, we consider the correlated risk among different connection requests when both the primary and backup paths are routed and assigned spectrum. Therefore, a novel shared-path protection algorithm is developed, named shared-path protection algorithm with correlated risk (SPP_CR), in flexible bandwidth optical networks. Based on the correlated risk, the routing can be diverse and the sharing in backup spectral resource will be restricted by SPP_CR algorithm, then the dropped traffic caused by simultaneous multiple failures between primary and backup path can be efficiently decreased. Simulation results show that, SPP_CR algorithm (i) achieves the higher successful service ratio (SSR) than traditional shared-path protection (SPP), shared-path protection with dynamic load balancing (SPP_DLB) and dedicated path protection (DPP); (ii) makes a better tradeoff in blocking probability, protection ratio (PR), average frequency slots consumed (AFSC) and redundancy ratio (RR) than SPP, SPP_DLB and DPP algorithms.     

Ethernet-over-SONET(EoS) over WDM in Optical Wide-Area Networks (WANs): Benefits and Challenges

Ethernet has been playing an increasingly important role in wide area networks (WANs), from both a service perspective and a transport-technology perspective. Unlike its dominant presence in local area networks (LANs), Ethernet in WANs has been increasing its popularity in three different directions, i.e., Ethernet-based layer-2 virtual private network (L2VPN) over layer-3 network, Ethernet over SONET (EoS), and Ethernet directly over WDM channels or optical fibers. In this paper, we investigate the benefits and challenges of using next-generation SONET/SDH techniques—namely SONET/SDH virtual concatenation (VCAT) and link-capacity adjustment scheme (LCAS)—to support Ethernet-based data services in intelligent optical WDM wide area networks. In particular, we evaluate the network performance improvement after employing VCAT. In order to fully utilize VCATs inverse-multiplexing capability, several simple and effective heuristic algorithms are proposed and evaluated.*Part of the work was accomplished while Keyao Zhu was a Ph.D. student in the Networks Research Lab. at University of California, Davis, under the supervision of Professor Biswanath Mukherjee. Summarized versions of this paper were presented at the IEEE/OSA Optical Fiber Communication Conferences OFC03 and OFC04 in Atlanta, GA, in March 2003 and in Los Angeles, CA, in March 2004, respectively.Corresponding author     

核心链路感知的可生存虚拟网络链路保护方法

针对现有可生存虚拟网络链路保护方法无差别对待所有虚拟链路、备份资源消耗多且故障后网络恢复时延长的问题,该文提出一种核心链路感知的可生存虚拟网络链路保护(CLA-SVNLP)方法。首先,综合考虑虚拟链路动态和静态两方面因素构建虚拟链路核心度度量模型,依据虚拟网络生存性需求,对核心度较高的虚拟链路进行备份保护;其次,将p圈引入可生存虚拟网络链路保护,依据虚拟网络特点构建p圈,为核心虚拟链路提供1:N保护,即每条核心虚拟链路平均消耗1/N条的备份链路带宽资源以减少备份链路资源消耗,并将单物理链路保护问题转化为多个p圈内的单虚拟链路保护问题;最后网络编码技术与p圈结合,将备份链路对核心虚拟链路提供的1:N保护转化为1+N保护,避免了故障后定位、检测及数据重传。仿真结果表明,该方法提高了备份资源利用率且缩短了故障后的网络恢复时延。     

Multi-tiered service survivability in next-generation SONET/SDH networks

Rapid advances in next-generation SONET/ SDH and optical switching technologies along with dynamic generalized multi-protocol label switching control architectures have enabled many new service provisioning paradigms. In particular, a key addition is the new virtual concatenation feature that allows for inverse multiplexing of connection demands across SONET/SDH domains. This paper presents a novel tiered survivability scheme that leverages this feature to support multiple levels of service survivability and higher load carrying capability and service resiliency. Detailed simulation performance analysis results are also presented along with conclusions and directions for future work.     

IP-over-WDM网中不同等级业务间资源共享的多层保护算法

目前,人们普遍认为IP-over-WDM网络将成为未来骨干网的主流,但波分复用技术使得一根光纤的断裂可以导致大量数据的丢失,因此研究IP-over-WDM网络的生存性显得非常重要.为了进一步提高IP-over-WDM网络性能,文中基于辅助图模型(AGM),提出了分等级的多层保护算法和等级间业务备用资源部分共享策略,又提出了一种链路赋值的新方法.通过仿真实验可以发现,这一切大大降低了业务的阻塞率.     

Comparison of SDH/SONET-WDM multi-layer networks with static and dynamic optical plane

SDH/SONET-WDM multi-layer networks are a very attractive solution to cope with the increasing dynamics and capacities in today’s core networks. In SDH/SONET multi-layer networks, client layer SDH/SONET connections are groomed to wavelength channels and transported using end-to-end lightpaths. Also, intermediate grooming can yield to a more efficient utilization of network resources.In this paper, two principal SDH/SONET-WDM multi-layer network architectures are investigated covering the dynamics either only in the electrical layer or in both layers, respectively. In order to show benefits and drawbacks for the introduction of dynamics in the optical plane of today’s backbone networks, we present a detailed performance evaluation based on simulation studies and compare both architectures for different total network capacities and grooming strategies. We also systematically analyze the traffic composition which until now has only rarely been investigated. We show that changes in the traffic pattern can be covered by a dynamic optical plane. Further, we figure out the timescale for switching operations in the optical layer which is at least two orders of magnitude below the connection’s interarrival rate.     

Spare Capacity Allocation in Two-Layer Networks

In this paper we consider the problem of provisioning spare capacity in two-layer backbone networks using shared backup path protection. First, two spare capacity allocation (SCA) optimization problems are formulated as integer linear programming (ILP) models for the cases of protection at the top layer against failures at the bottom layer. The first model captures failure propagation using overlay information between two layers for backup paths to meet diversity requirements. The second model improves bandwidth efficiency by moving spare capacity sharing from the top layer to the bottom layer. This exposes a tradeoff between bandwidth efficiency and extra cross-layer operation. Next, the SCA model for common pool protection is developed to allow spare capacity sharing between two layers. Our previous SCA heuristic technique, successive survivable routing (SSR) is extended for these optimization problems. Numerical results for a variety of networks indicate that the common pool protection is attractive to enhance bandwidth efficiency without loss of survivability and that the SSR heuristic quickly results in near optimal solutions     

FPGA Implementation of Cross Virtual Concatenation Transmitter/ Receiver for Data Transmission over Next Generation SDH Systems

Cross Virtual Concatenation is the new technique proposed for bandwidth efficient transmission of data over SDH networks. SDH networks came into existence for reliable voice transmission. As the demand of data traffic grew in wide area networks, new technologies were developed and standardized for data transmission over SDH networks. The technologies used namely, GFP (generic framing procedure), VCAT (virtual concatenation) and LCAS (link capacity adjustment scheme) enable network operator to provide integrated voice and data services over their legacy SDH infrastructure. Data packets are encapsulated using framing protocols GFP. VCAT is a process of distributing the GFP framed data payload in number of virtual channels of same capacity forming a Virtually Concatenated Group (VCG). LCAS is used for dynamic bandwidth allocation. LCAS enhances the VCAT scheme with hitless in service addition and removal of VC’s to/from the VCG.VCAT combines homogeneous virtual channels together which in some cases limits the performance of VCAT. This paper describes the implementation of new concatenation technology named cross virtual concatenation (CVC), which combines heterogeneous VC’s together to utilize the SDH bandwidth more efficiently. CVC implementation requires only end node equipments to be upgraded as VCG members travel through the link similar to the conventional VCAT. This paper proposes FPGA implementation of transmitter and receiver circuits for 100 Mbps Ethernet data transmission over next Generation SDH systems using CVC, where two types of VC’s namely VC-3 and VC-12 are used for data transmission. Total Transmission delay is calculated as 125 μs. There is no complexity added at the receiver side due to this delay. The receiver is designed for 32 ms differential delay compensation which can be increased up to maximum 256 ms by increasing the buffer size at the receiver.     

A hybrid protection strategy based on node-disjointness against double failures in optical mesh networks

As the size and the complexity of optical mesh networks are continuing to grow and the severe natural disasters are occurring more frequently in recent years, multiple failures (link failures or node failures) become increasing probable. Protection strategies against these failures generally provision backup paths for working paths based on link-disjointness or node-disjointness. Compared with link-disjoint protection, node-disjoint protection means higher degree of risk isolation and can accommodate both link failures and node failures. This motivates us to propose a hybrid node-disjoint protection, named Segment and Path Shared Protection (SPSP), to provide 100% protection against arbitrary simultaneous double-node failures (the worst double-failure case). For each service connection request, SPSP first provisions backup segments for the working segments, respectively, as the primary backup resources, then provisions a single backup path for the whole working path as the second backup resource. In addition to its complete protection capability and flexible scalability for double failures, SPSP can also obtain better network load balance and resource sharing degree by dynamic link-cost adjustment and reserved backup resource sharing. Simulation results show that SPSP can achieve a shorter average recovery time than path shared protection (PSP) and higher resource utilization and lower blocking probability than segment shared protection (SSP).     

Service-Centric Provisioning in WDM Backbone Networks for the Future Internet

A service level agreement (SLA) is a formal contract between the service provider (SP) and the customer. Among various specifications, the SLA states an availability requirement and a penalty the SP pays if this requirement is violated. Traditional approaches to protection use a fixed deployment of backup resources, or do not consider the status of a service. As more heterogeneous applications use optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) backbone network services of the future internet, these service-agnostic approaches are unable to accommodate the differentiated availability requirements. This results in substantial revenue loss either by refusing requests, or by accepting them and then violating their SLAs. In this paper, we propose and investigate the characteristics of a centralized control and management framework for service-aware, admission, and re-provisioning (SAR) in WDM backbone networks of the future internet. Our framework aggressively admits service requests, and dynamically reprovisions existing services by exploiting knowledge of their status. We first propose a GMPLS-based architecture and a revenue model for our analysis. Then we introduce a priority index, called urgency level (UL). An UL is assigned to an existing service indicating its status and relative importance, technically and economically. We reprovision resources by shifting them from low-UL services to provide backups for higher-UL services, which are more at risk of violating their SLAs or which have higher penalties. Our framework increases the revenue for the SP by creating more sales revenue and reducing potential penalties. Numerical results show improved performance in terms of 1) lower resource overbuild; 2) lower bandwidth blocking ratio; 3) higher SLA satisfaction ratio; 4) more balanced SLA violations; and 5) higher overall net revenue. Our framework is also shown to be effective for a range of failure models and penalty strategies.      

Physical layer performance benchmarking of two metropolitan area network configurations

This paper investigates the problem of dynamic survivable lightpath provisioning against single-node/link failures in optical mesh networks employing wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM).We unify various forms of segment protection into generalized segment protection (GSP). In GSP, the working path of a lightpath is divided into multiple overlapping working segments, each of which is protected by a node-/link-disjoint backup segment. We design an efficient heuristic which, upon the arrival of a lightpath request, dynamically divides a judiciously selected working path into multiple overlapping working segments and computes a backup segment for each working segment while accommodating backup sharing. Compared to the widely considered shared-path protection scheme, GSP achieves much lower blocking probability and shorter protection-switching time for a small sacrifice in control and management overhead.On the basis of generalized segment protection, we present a new approach to provisioning lightpath requests according to their differentiated quality-of-protection (QoP) requirements. We focus on one of the most important QoP parameters—namely, protection-switching time—since lightpath requests may have differentiated protection-switching-time requirements. For example, lightpaths carrying voice traffic may require 50 ms protection-switching time while lightpaths carrying data traffic may have a wide range of protection-switching-time requirements. Numerical results show that our approach achieves significant performance gain which leads to a remarkable reduction in blocking probability.While our focus is on the optical WDM network, the basic ideas of our approaches can be applied to multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks with appropriate adjustments, e.g., differentiated bandwidth granularities.     

Cross-virtual concatenation for Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH networks

Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH (EoS) is a popular approach for interconnecting geographically distant Ethernet segments using a SONET/SDH transport infrastructure. It typically uses virtual concatenation (VC) for dynamic bandwidth management. The aggregate SONET/SDH bandwidth for a given EoS connection is obtained by “concatenating” a number of equal-capacity virtual channels. Together, these virtual channels form a virtually concatenated group (VCG). In this article, we introduce a new concatenation technique, referred to as cross-virtual concatenation (CVC), which involves the concatenation of virtual channels of heterogeneous capacities. We show that CVC can be implemented through a simple upgrade at the end node, thus utilizing the existing legacy SDH infrastructure. By employing CVC for EoS systems, we show that the SDH bandwidth can be harvested more efficiently than in conventional VC. We consider two problems associated with routing CVC connections: the connection establishment problem and the connection upgrade problem. The goal of the first problem is to compute a set of paths between two EoS end systems such that a total bandwidth demand and a constraint on the differential delay between the paths are satisfied. Among all feasible sets, the one that consumes the least amount of network bandwidth is selected. For this problem, we develop an integer linear program (ILP) and an efficient algorithm based on the sliding-window approach. For the connection upgrade problem, the goal is to augment an existing set of paths so as to increase the aggregate bandwidth, while continue to meet the differential-delay constraint. We model this problem as a flow-maximization problem with a constraint on the delay of the virtual channels with positive flow. We then consider the problem of path selection under imprecise network state information. Simulations are conducted to demonstrate the advantages of employing CVC and to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms.

2.5G MSTP组网中的以太网业务保护

分析了以太网的环网保护、LCAS带宽调整和虚级联的传输延时.提出了SDH环网中MSP和UPSR保护同时存在交叉使用解决了单一保护的缺点,并在组网测试中验证得出其倒换和恢复效率上优于MSP保护和UPSR保护.     

Achieving Resource-Efficient Survivable Provisioning in Service Differentiated WDM Mesh Networks

A resource-efficient provisioning framework (RPF) is proposed in this paper for optical networks providing dedicated path protection (DPP) and shared path protection (SPP) services. The framework reduces resource consumption by considering spare capacity reservation of DPP and SPP cooperatively while provides 100% survivability guarantee and maintains the recovery time for both protection types against the predominant single link failures. To tackle the service provisioning problem under the framework, an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation is presented to find the optimal routing solution for a given set of traffic demands. The objective is to minimize total capacities consumed by working and backup paths of all demands. Then, heuristics are developed for on-line routing under dynamic change of traffic. Numerical results show that compared with traditional provisioning framework (TPF), the RPF has the following advantages: 1) Over 10% capacity savings are achieved for static service provisioning; 2) blocking probability of both protection types is greatly reduced; 3) lower resource overbuild is achieved; and 4) average backup-path hop distance of shared-path-protected flows is reduced. Finally, network survivability in face of double link failures is discussed under the framework.      

On the improvement of network resource utilization efficiency for the establishment of static dependable connections in SRLG-constrained WDM translucent networks

In this paper, we investigate the problem of establishing static connections with fault-tolerant requirements, also known as dependable connections, taking into account quality of transmission constraints. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that tackles the aforementioned problem under shared risk link group (SRLG) constraints in translucent WDM optical mesh networks where typically a set of strategically localized network nodes are equipped with regeneration capability to overcome physical-layer impairment effects. A novel cross-layer heuristic approach is introduced to solve the problem for an heterogeneous networked scenario relying on a cost-effective two-stage protection procedure which combines the well-known path protection and partial path protection schemes in order to ensure instantaneous recovery from any SRLG-failure event. The proposed heuristic integrates a generic auxiliary graph model that incorporates various network heterogeneity factors such as the number of transceivers at each network node, the number of wavelengths on each fiber link, and the regeneration capability of each node, represented by different edges in the constructed graph. Moreover, the integrated auxiliary graph can be applied efficiently to model either single- or mixed-line-rate translucent WDM optical networks wherein different modulation formats are employed in order to support the transmission at different line rates. Our solution approach aims at maximizing the total number of accommodated requests by reducing network resource consumption through the simultaneous use of the backup–backup and primary–backup multiplexing techniques. We, here, present extended versions of these two techniques that generalize the sharing concept to some other important node resources—specifically, regeneration equipments which constitute the major cost factor in optical transport networks—in addition to link resources (i.e., wavelength channels). As far as we know, this is the first attempt to deploy simultaneously generalized versions of the backup–backup and primary–backup multiplexing techniques when considering static traffic patterns without compromising the 100 % fault-recoverability guarantee. The performances of the proposed heuristic are evaluated and discussed through extensive numerical experiments carried out on different network topologies. Significant improvements are demonstrated, either in terms of network blocking performance or in terms of resource utilization efficiency, in comparison with previously proposed approaches.