An access protocol for efficiency optimization in WDM networks: A propagation delay and collisions avoidance analysis

The main investigation of this study is the performance optimization of a WDMA protocol suitable for a network architecture of passive star topology that uses the Multi-channel Control Architecture (MCA) and adopts asymmetric access rights over it. The access asymmetry defines that the MCA uses a separate control channel properly assigned for the free stations transmission, while the remaining control channels are used by the backlogged stations. The proposed asymmetric access protocol prevents from the data channels collisions, while it takes under consideration the loss due to the receiver conflicts. This is achieved by considering the propagation delay latency parameter as appropriate time interval in order to coordinate collisions-free data packets transmission. The performance parameters are derived through exhaustive analytical study based on a Markovian model of finite population, while the throughput optimization conditions are analytically investigated. Comparative results prove that the proposed asymmetric access protocol provides almost 11% throughput enhancement and significant delay deterioration as compared to a relative protocol with symmetric access rights over the MCA. The proposed protocol study is accomplished by examining its performance for various number of control channels and stations population.