A Selective Minimum Delay Value (SMDV) Algorithm for Packet Contention Resolution in Optical Packet Switching

At a switching node in an optical packet switching (OPS) network, packet contention occurs whenever two or more packets try to reach the same output port of the node at the same wavelength, consequently it degrades network performance. Previous works on optical packet switching flourishingly adopted optical buffering with optical fibre delay line (FDL), wavelength conversion, or deflection routing to resolve packet contention. In this paper, we focus on the optical fibre delay line approach, especially the selection of proper length of FDL under asynchronous variable length packet traffic. As the length of fibre coils equipped in a FDL optical buffering system is impossible to be reconfigured frequently, a proper length of FDL should be determined during manufacture. The motivation is to observe the impact factors on FDL optical system performance in a WDM network scenario, and provide the empirical data as supports to select the proper length of FDL in an OPS node system.

Optical Packet Switching (OPS) has emerged as a promising candidate for the future all-optical core network. A crucial issue in such networks is how the packet length distribution (PLD) influences the performance under different traffic scenarios. In this paper we investigate how a deterministic, empirical and exponential PLD influences the Packet Loss Rate (PLR) in an optical packet switch in the case of a Poisson arrival process and a bursty Hyperexponential arrival process. We consider optical packet switches with and without Fibre Delay Line (FDL) contention buffers. Our results show that in the case of OPS without FDL buffering and with a Hyperexponential arrival process, the empirical PLD yields the lowest PLR. However, in the case of OPS with FDL buffering, the deterministic PLD yields the lowest PLR.

Optical packet switching (OPS) is being considered as one of the switching technologies for a future optical internet. For contention resolution in an optical packet switching (OPS) system, the wavelength dimension is generally used in combination with a fibre delay line (FDL) buffer. In this study, the authors propose to reduce the number of tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) by sharing TWCs for cost-effective design of an asynchronous OPS system with a shared or an output FDL buffer. Asynchronous and variable-length packets are considered in the OPS system design. To investigate the number of TWCs needed for the OPS system, an algorithm is proposed, which searches for an available TWC and an unused internal wavelength, as well as an outgoing channel. This algorithm is applied to an OPS system with a shared or an output FDL buffer. Also, the number of internal wavelengths (i.e. the conversion range of the TWC) needed for an asynchronous OPS system is presented for cost reduction of the OPS system.

— Packet contention is a major issue in asynchronous optical packet and burst switching networks. Optical buffering, which is implemented by fiber delay lines (FDLs), is fundamental to many optical switch implementations for resolving contention. Most existing optical buffering implementations are output-based and require a huge amount of FDLs as well as larger switch sizes, which impose extra cost on the overall system. In this paper, we consider shared optical buffering which can reduce the buffer size at a switch. Since no previous study is available to analyze the performance of asynchronous architectures with shared buffers, we propose an analytical model to evaluate the packet loss probability and the average delay for shared buffers at a single switch. We then compare the performance of output buffers to shared buffers under different granularities of FDLs. We observe that, by choosing an appropriate granularity, the shared buffering scheme can significantly reduce packet loss with much smaller switch sizes and fewer FDLs than the output buffering architecture. The accuracy of the analytical model is also confirmed by extensive simulation. I.

Packet contention is a major issue in asynchronous optical packet switching networks. Optical buffering, which is implemented by fiber delay lines (FDLs), is fundamental to many optical switch implementations for resolving contention. Most existing optical buffering implementations are output-based and require a huge amount of FDLs as well as larger switch sizes, which impose extra cost on the overall system. In this paper, we consider a shared optical buffering architecture which can reduce the buffer size at a switch. We propose an analytical model to evaluate the packet loss probability and the average delay For shared buffers at a single switch. We then compare the performance of output buffers to shared buffers under different granularities of FDLs. We observe that, by choosing an appropriate granularity, the shared buffering scheme can significantly reduce packet loss with much smaller switch sizes and fewer FDLs than the output buffering architecture. The accuracy of the analytical model is also confirmed by extensive simulation

Optical packet-switching (OPS) networks remain an emerging technology, as exemplified by the feasibility challenges of optical RAM. Nevertheless, OPS networks possess significant potential advantages, including a high data transfer rate and low power consumption due to the elimination of optical–electrical–optical conversion, compared to conventional electronic packet-switching networks, flexibility in handling traffic fluctuations due to packet-switching principles, and low latency as they do not require overhead for communication path establishment. However, effective data recovery from non-negligible packet loss due to optical packet collisions remains a critical challenge in OPS networks. Packet-level forward error correction (FEC) is regarded as an effective data recovery method for lossy networks, such as OPS ones, because it does not rely on packet-by-packet feedback, which could be lost, and avoids the delays associated with feedback and retransmission. On the other hand, FEC requires the transmission of additional packets beyond the original data, increasing the computational load associated with encoding and decoding. In this paper, we propose a data transfer method based on erasure coding, which is useful not only in OPS networks but also in other network environments suffering from severe packet loss due to collisions or signal degradation, such as optical circuit switching networks and wireless networks. This method improves effective data transfer throughput by limiting the number of transmitted packets and reducing the computational overhead of the encoding and decoding processes. This improvement is achieved through the appropriate configuration of the distribution of XOR operation target packets that constitute XOR packets, thereby restricting the number of symbols encoded in each XOR operation and introducing cumulative feedback of which symbols were already recovered at the receiver. To validate the proposed method, we conducted not only simulation evaluations but also what we believe to be the world’s first packet transmission demonstration experiment using packet-level erasure coding over an actual OPS network testbed, taking actual computational overhead into account. The experimental results show that, in high transmission rate environments, the proposed method achieves up to a 188.7% increase in effective data transfer throughput compared to the benchmark LT-Codes-based packet-level FEC transmission method while reducing the processing time on the sender side by up to 15.6% and on the receiver side by up to 39.4%. In addition, the number of packets required for data decoding can be reduced by up to 63.3%.

Optical buffering is one of the main obstacles in optical packet switching (OPS) networks. We proposed the network global control strategy to resolve this problem. By introducing the cycled traffic at the edge node and the slot assignment algorithm at the core node, a slotted OPS networks with no contention can be realized. In this network, a good throughput, end to end delay and delay jitter performance can be gotten at high load simultaneously, so it may be a promising candidate for the future optical networks.

An optical router with multistage distributed management features for the asynchronous optical packet switching (OPS) network is presented, which can improve switching capacity and all-optical scalability. A compact recycling-fiber-delay-line (Rec-FDL) based collision resolution mechanism is proposed to resolve the contentions for asynchronous and variable length optical packets. The analysis models of stabilities, packet loss rates (PLR) and average packet waiting latencies (PWL) for the router are developed based on the timer based optical packet assembly algorithm. The simulation shows that PLR and PWL for a 400-byte optical packet transmitted in the 32 wavelengths dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system equal to 3.48 × 10?4 and 0.072 ns, respectively. The non-blocking switching can be realized for the packets with lengths less than the buffer granularity of the Rec-FDL, and the optimized performance for the proposed router can be obtained through properly selecting of the system parameters.

Buffering management is a crucial function in current optical packet switching (OPS) networks. To avoid packet blocking due to competition for the same switched path, optical buffering is required to queue packets after a router makes the forwarding decision. In this paper, the author proposed a buffering scheme based on optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA), where each packet is encoded with an optical signature code. An optical coding technique combining spectral-amplitude coding (SAC) and two-code keying (TCK) is introduced to advance the buffering performance regarding packet loss probability. In TCK, the payload bits “1” and “0” of a stored packet are respectively converted to a SAC signal and its complementarity. As the Hamming distance between the coding signals of bits “1” and “0” is extended, the existing drawback that the OCDMA-based buffer capacity is limited by the decoder noise increased with the number of queued SAC packets is resolved. Moreover, an encoder consisting of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) array is applied for simplifying the system design. A SAC signal and its complementary counterpart can be generated simultaneously without the need of an extra encoder.

In this paper, a novel optical packet switch is proposed, which uses a set of shared fiber delay lines (FDLs) and a set of shared tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) to resolve optical packet contentions. In addition, two control algorithms, i.e., Fiber-First (FF) and Wavelength-First (WF), are proposed to schedule optical packets. Performance of the novel switch is evaluated by means of simulation experiments. Simulation results show that based on either of these two control algorithms, the switch can achieve super performance without employing a lot of FDLs and TWCs. Moreover, the performance of FF and WF is compared. Detail analyses are also given in this paper.

In the recent past, there has been an explosive growth in data traffic within data center systems. This rapid increase in data volume has put significant constraints on the speed of current data communication networks, which are predominantly based on electronic controllers and memory. The speed limitations of electronic devices hinder their ability to process data at higher rates efficiently. To address this issue and enable faster data processing, the use of optical communication emerges as the most promising solution. Optical communication leverages the capabilities of light signals and optical components, which can handle data at much higher rates compared to their electronic counterparts. One key element in optical communication systems is the utilization of fiber delay lines (FDLs) as optical storage for packets. FDLs offer the ability to temporarily store and delay optical signals, providing buffering capabilities within optical networks. These FDLs can be configured in various setups, including feed forward, feed backward, and recirculating configurations, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. In this context, this article explores several state-of-the-art arrayed waveguide grating (AWG)-based optical packet switch (OPSW) architectures. These switches are designed to efficiently route and manage optical packets within data center networks. Each architecture is summarized, highlighting its unique features and capabilities. To compare the different AWG-based OPSW architectures, various key parameters are considered, such as the cost, physical losses, bit error rate (BER), and the number of tunable components required. These parameters are critical in determining the performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the switches.

Modeling and performance analysis of a data center network (DCN) combining optical packet switching (OPS) and agile optical circuit switching (OCS) in a unified platform are presented. Hybrid optoelectronic packet routers which combine optical switching fabric and electronic buffers are used, supporting 100 Gbit/s (25 Gbit/s × 4 wavelengths) optical packets. OCS transmission is implemented by a novel “express path,” (ExP) an instant wavelength path on demand, which enables certain flows following the ExP with no packet contention, whereas ordinary OPS packets are switched with a deflection routing algorithm and buffering for contention resolution. This architecture can support OCS for large and reliability-sensitive data transferring and OPS for latency-sensitive applications. The performance of the network is investigated via numerical simulations of top-of-rack switch (ToR)-to-ToR traffic in an N-dimensional (up to 4096 node) torus topology. We have made the following observations: 1) torus topology results in high throughput and can be scaled out by increasing the dimension; 2) contention resolution between OPS and agile OCS is needed and our proposed strategies enhance the overall performance; and 3) in a lightly to moderately loaded case of OPS traffic, more than 100 ExPs can be supported simultaneously with acceptable affect on OPS.

An ant-based contention resolution scheme for the slotted optical packet switched networks has been proposed, and the optimal number of fibre delay lines (FDLs) used in the switch under various traffic loads is investigated. The proposed algorithm can makes FDLs and output port assignment so as to improve the cell-loss rate under various traffic loads. It is found for traffic loads 0.9, 0.6, 0.3, the optimum value for FDL is 64 128 and 128.

The prospects of Optical Burst Switching (OBS) as a cost-effective switching paradigm for future all-optical transport networks could greatly benefit from avoiding the use of complex and expensive all-optical wavelength converters at the network nodes. However, contention resolution is essential to achieve reasonable bandwidth utilization efficiency in OBS networks and replacing the wavelength converters by Fiber Delay Line (FDL) buffers requires huge numbers of FDLs and large space switches, thus also rendering complex network nodes. This paper proposes combining the use of a priority-based wavelength assignment and burst scheduling strategy at the ingress nodes, which minimizes the probability of contention, with the use of shared FDL buffers at the core nodes to resolve the unavoidable contentions. The objective is to design OBS networks employing only moderate numbers of simple FDL buffers while matching the performance of a network using full-range wavelength converters. Simulation results using a reference network topology show that this goal is feasible. Moreover, the FDL buffer requirements are shown to depend on the offered traffic load, the number of wavelengths per link, and the maximum burst delay at the ingress node.

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) is a new paradigm for future all-optical networks. It has been noted that performance of an OBS node depends on the wavelength assignment algorithm that is used. In this paper we present a new class of wavelength allocation algorithms called cost-based algorithms. We note that bursts compete for more types of resources than wavelengths alone. For example if a given burst is to be allocated successfully, a Fiber Delay Line (FDL) or a wavelength converter may have to be used. It can be expected, however, that the set of available resources will be limited. If at a given time all the converters are used, then any arriving burst will have to be allocated on the same wavelength - if it is available. Similarly, the unavailability of FDLs will decrease the probability of a burst being accepted. In a cost-based algorithm, each resource is assigned a metric (or price). Channels are priced according to their suitability for a particular burst. When a control packet arrives at a core node, all the possible ways of handling the corresponding burst are found (the outgoing channel, with or without a FDL or wavelength converter), and the one with a lowest metric is chosen. To show how the performance of a cost-based algorithm compares to other algorithms we present the results of our simulations for a node with full conversion capability and a shared FDL.