Survey of switching techniques in high-speed networks and their performance

One of the most promising approaches for high speed networks for integrated service applications is fast packet switching, or ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). ATM can be characterized by very high speed transmission links and simple, hard wired protocols within a network. To match the transmission speed of the network links, and to minimize the overhead due to the processing of network protocols, the switching of cells is done in hardware switching fabrics in ATM networks.A number of designs has been proposed for implementing ATM switches. While many differences exist among the proposals, the vast majority of them is based on self-routing multi-stage interconnection networks. This is because of the desirable features of multi-stage interconnection networks such as self-routing capability and suitability for VLSI implementation.Existing ATM switch architectures can be classified into two major classes: blocking switches, where blockings of cells may occur within a switch when more than one cell contends for the same internal link, and non-blocking switches, where no internal blocking occurs. A large number of techniques has also been proposed to improve the performance of blocking and nonblocking switches. In this paper, we present an extensive survey of the existing proposals for ATM switch architectures, focusing on their performance issues

Isochronets: a High-Speed Network Switching Architecture

Traditional switching techniques need hundred- or thousand-MIPS processing power within switches to support Gbit/s transmission rates available today. These techniques anchor their decision-making on control information within transmitted frames and thus must resolve routes at the speed in which frames are being pumped into switches. Isochronets can potentially switch at any transmission rate by making switching decisions independent of frame contents. Isochronets divide network bandwidth among routing trees, a technique called Route Division Multiple Access (RDMA). Frames access network resources through the appropriate routing tree to the destination. Frame structures are irrelevant for switching decisions. Consequently, Isochronets can support multiple framing protocols without adaptation layers and are strong candidates for all-optical implementations. All network-layer functions are reduced to an admission control mechanism designed to provide quality of service (QOS) guarantees for multiple classes of traffic. The main results of this work are: (1) A new network architecture suitable for high-speed transmissions; (2) An implementation of Isochronets using cheap off-theshelf components; (3) A comparison of RDMA with more traditional switching techniques, such as Packet Switching and Circuit Switching; (4) New protocols necessary for Isochronet operations; and (5) Use of Isochronet techniques at higher layers of the protocol stack (in particular, we show how Isochronet techniques may solve routing problems in ATM networks)

QoS-based multipath routing for the Internet

The new generation of network services is being developed for incorporation in communication infrastructure. These services, generally called Quality of Services (QoS), should accommodate data file, video, and audio applications. The different performance requirements of these applications necessitate a re-examination of the main architectural components of today\u27s networks, which were designed to support traditional data applications. Routing, which determines the sequence of network nodes a packet traverses between source and destination, is one such component. Here, we examine the potential routing problems in future Internet and discuss the advantages of class-based multi-path routing methods. The result is a new approach to routing in packet-switched networks, which is called Two-level Class-based Multipath routing with Prediction (TCMP). In TCMP, we compute multiple paths between each source and destination based on link propagation delay and bottleneck bandwidth. A leaky bucket is adopted in each router to monitor the bottleneck bandwidth on equal paths during the network\u27s stable period, and to guide its traffic forwarDing The TCMP can avoid frequent flooding of routing information in a dynamic routing method; therefore, it can be applied to large network topologies

Design of switch architecture for the geographical cell transport protocol

The Internet is divided into multiple layers to reduce and manage complexity. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed a 7 layer network model and had been revised to a 5 layer TCP/IP based Internet Model. The layers of the Internet can also be divided into top layer TCP/IP protocol suite layers and the underlying transport network layers. SONET/SDH, a dominant transport network, was designed initially for circuit based telephony services. Advancement in the internet world with voice and video services had pushed SONET/SDH to operate with reduced efficiencies and increased costs. Hence, redesign and redeployment of the transport network has been and continues to be a subject of research and development. Several projects are underway to explore new transport network ideas such as G.709 and GMPLS. This dissertation presents the Geographical Cell Transport (GCT) protocol as a candidate for a next generation transport network. The GCT transport protocol and its cell format are described. The benefits provided by the proposed GCT transport protocol as compared to the existing transport networks are investigated. Existing switch architectures are explored and a best architecture to be implemented in VLSI for the proposed transport network input queued virtual output queuing is obtained. The objectives of this switch are high performance, guaranteed fairness among all inputs and outputs, robust behavior under different traffic patterns, and support for Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning. An implementation of this switch architecture is carried out using HDL. A novel pseudo random number generation unit is designed to nullify the bias present in an arbitration unit. The validity of the designed is checked by developing a traffic load model. The speedup factor required in the switch to maintain desired throughput is explored and is presented in detail. Various simulation results are shown to study the behavior of the designed switch under uniform and hotspot traffic. The simulation results show that QoS behavior and the crossing traffic through the switch has not been affected by hotspots

Information Switching Processor (ISP) contention analysis and control

Future satellite communications, as a viable means of communications and an alternative to terrestrial networks, demand flexibility and low end-user cost. On-board switching/processing satellites potentially provide these features, allowing flexible interconnection among multiple spot beams, direct to the user communications services using very small aperture terminals (VSAT's), independent uplink and downlink access/transmission system designs optimized to user's traffic requirements, efficient TDM downlink transmission, and better link performance. A flexible switching system on the satellite in conjunction with low-cost user terminals will likely benefit future satellite network users

A Survey on the Contributions of Software-Defined Networking to Traffic Engineering

Since the appearance of OpenFlow back in 2008, software-defined networking (SDN) has gained momentum. Although there are some discrepancies between the standards developing organizations working with SDN about what SDN is and how it is defined, they all outline traffic engineering (TE) as a key application. One of the most common objectives of TE is the congestion minimization, where techniques such as traffic splitting among multiple paths or advanced reservation systems are used. In such a scenario, this manuscript surveys the role of a comprehensive list of SDN protocols in TE solutions, in order to assess how these protocols can benefit TE. The SDN protocols have been categorized using the SDN architecture proposed by the open networking foundation, which differentiates among data-controller plane interfaces, application-controller plane interfaces, and management interfaces, in order to state how the interface type in which they operate influences TE. In addition, the impact of the SDN protocols on TE has been evaluated by comparing them with the path computation element (PCE)-based architecture. The PCE-based architecture has been selected to measure the impact of SDN on TE because it is the most novel TE architecture until the date, and because it already defines a set of metrics to measure the performance of TE solutions. We conclude that using the three types of interfaces simultaneously will result in more powerful and enhanced TE solutions, since they benefit TE in complementary ways.European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (GN4) under Grant 691567 Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the Secure Deployment of Services Over SDN and NFV-based Networks Project S&NSEC under Grant TEC2013-47960-C4-3-

Survey of unified approaches to integrated-service networks

The increasing demand for communication services, coupled with recent technological advances in communication media and switching techniques, has resulted in a proliferation of new and expanded services. Currently, networks are needed which can transmit voice, data, and video services in an application-independent fashion. Unified approaches employ a single switching technique across the entire network bandwidth, thus, allowing services to be switched in an application-independent manner. This paper presents a taxonomy of integrated-service networks including a look at N-ISDN, while focusing on unified approaches to integrated-service networks.The two most promising unified approaches are burst and fast packet switching. Burst switching is a circuit switching-based approach which allocates channel bandwidth to a connection only during the transmission of "bursts" of information. Fast packet switching is a packet switching-based approach which can be characterized by very high transmission rates on network links and simple, hardwired protocols which match the rapid channel speed of the network. Both approaches are being proposed as possible implementations for integrated-service networks. We survey these two approaches, and also examine the key performance issues found in fast packet switching. We then present the results of a simulation study of a fast packet switching network