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.

Marwan Krunz (Corresponding author)Email: