Equivalent random analysis of a buffered optical switch with general interarrival times

We propose an approximate analytic model of an optical switch with fibre delay lines and wavelength converters by employing Equivalent Random Theory. General arrival traffic is modelled by means of Gamma-distributed interarrival times. The analysis is formulated in terms of virtual traffic flows within the optical switch from which we derive expressions for burst blocking probability, fibre delay line occupancy and mean delay. Emphasis is on approximations that give good numerical efficiency so that the method can be useful for formulating dimensioning problems for large-scale networks. Numerical solution values from the proposed analysis method compare well with results from a discrete-event simulation of an optical burst switch

Architecture, design, and modeling of the OPSnet asynchronous optical packet switching node

An all-optical packet-switched network supporting multiple services represents a long-term goal for network operators and service providers alike. The EPSRC-funded OPSnet project partnership addresses this issue from device through to network architecture perspectives with the key objective of the design, development, and demonstration of a fully operational asynchronous optical packet switch (OPS) suitable for 100 Gb/s dense-wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) operation. The OPS is built around a novel buffer and control architecture that has been shown to be highly flexible and to offer the promise of fair and consistent packet delivery at high load conditions with full support for quality of service (QoS) based on differentiated services over generalized multiprotocol label switching

Real-time scheduling of a tertiary-storage juke-box

We present a jukebox scheduler for real-time data. The scheduler is part of a hierarchical real-time file system to be used over a network. A jukebox is a large tertiary storage device whose removable media (e.g. cd-rom, dvd-rom) are loaded and unloaded from one or more drives by a robot. The problem with tertiary storage is that media exchange times are high and the number of drives is limited. This makes scheduling tertiary storage complicated. The storage media switching time in a jukebox is in the order of tens of seconds. Therefore multiplexing between two files stored in different media is many orders of magnitude slower than doing the same in secondary storage. The goal of the scheduler is to schedule the use of the jukebox devices (arm and drives) in such a way that the system can guarantee the deadlines while minimizing the response time. The problem is similar to that of scheduling multiple processors with the additional difficulty of having to deal with the high switching times and the use of a shared resource (the arm). Finding an optimal schedule is an NP-hard problem. We provide a near-optimal polynomial solution by using heuristics to prune the tree of solutions. The scheduling time is in average less than 100 ms. The incoming requests are scheduled on-line

The Design, modeling and simulation of switching fabrics: For an ATM network switch

The requirements of today\u27s telecommunication systems to support high bandwidth and added flexibility brought about the expansion of (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) ATM as a new method of high-speed data transmission. Various analytical and simulation methods may be used to estimate the performance of ATM switches. Analytical methods considerably limit the range of parameters to be evaluated due to extensive formulae used and time consuming iterations. They are not as effective for large networks because of excessive computations that do not scale linearly with network size. One the other hand, simulation-based methods allow determining a bigger range of performance parameters in a shorter amount of time even for large networks. A simulation model, however, is more elaborate in terms of implementation. Instead of using formulae to obtain results, it has to operate software or hardware modules requiring a certain amount of effort to create. In this work simulation is accomplished by utilizing the ATM library - an object oriented software tool, which uses software chips for building ATM switches. The distinguishing feature of this approach is cut-through routing realized on the bit level abstraction treating ATM protocol data units, called cells, as groups of 424 bits. The arrival events of cells to the system are not instantaneous contrary to commonly used methods of simulation that consider cells as instant messages. The simulation was run for basic multistage interconnection network types with varying source arrival rate and buffer sizes producing a set of graphs of cell delays, throughput, cell loss probability, and queue sizes. The techniques of rearranging and sorting were considered in the simulation. The results indicate that better performance is always achieved by bringing additional stages of elements to the switching system

An Overview of the Isochronets Architecture for High Speed Networks

This paper overviews a novel switching architecture for high-speed networks: Isochronets. Isochronets time-divide network bandwidth among routing trees. Traffic moves down a routing tree to the root during its time band. Network functions such as routing and flow control are entirely governed by band timers and require no processing of frame headers bits. Frame motions need not be delayed for switch processing, allowing Isochronets to scale over a large spectrum of transmission speeds and support all-optical implementations. The network functions as a media-access layer that can support multiple framing protocols simultaneously, handled by higher layers at the periphery. Internetworking is reduced to a simple media-layer bridging. Isochronets provide flexible quality of service control and multicasting through allocation of bands to routing trees. They can be tuned to span a spectrum of performance behaviors outperforming both circuit or packet switching

Survey of traffic control schemes and error control schemes for ATM networks

Among the techniques proposed for B-ISDN transfer mode, ATM concept is considered to be the most promising transfer technique because of its flexibility and efficiency. This paper surveys and reviews a number of topics related to ATM networks. Those topics cover congestion control, provision of multiple classes of traffic, and error control. Due to the nature of ATM networks, those issues are far more challenging than in conventional networks. Sorne of the more promising solutions to those issues are surveyed, and the corresponding results on performance are summarized. Future research problems in ATM protocol aspect are also presented

Traffic and performance evaluation for optical networks. An Investigation into Modelling and Characterisation of Traffic Flows and Performance Analysis and Engineering for Optical Network Architectures.

The convergence of multiservice heterogeneous networks and ever increasing Internet applications, like peer to peer networking and the increased number of users and services, demand a more efficient bandwidth allocation in optical networks. In this context, new architectures and protocols are needed in conjuction with cost effective quantitative methodologies in order to provide an insight into the performance aspects of the next and future generation Internets. This thesis reports an investigation, based on efficient simulation methodologies, in order to assess existing high performance algorithms and to propose new ones. The analysis of the traffic characteristics of an OC-192 link (9953.28 Mbps) is initially conducted, a requirement due to the discovery of self-similar long-range dependent properties in network traffic, and the suitability of the GE distribution for modelling interarrival times of bursty traffic in short time scales is presented. Consequently, using a heuristic approach, the self-similar properties of the GE/G/¿ are being presented, providing a method to generate self-similar traffic that takes into consideration burstiness in small time scales. A description of the state of the art in optical networking providing a deeper insight into the current technologies, protocols and architectures in the field, which creates the motivation for more research into the promising switching technique of ¿Optical Burst Switching¿ (OBS). An investigation into the performance impact of various burst assembly strategies on an OBS edge node¿s mean buffer length is conducted. Realistic traffic characteristics are considered based on the analysis of the OC-192 backbone traffic traces. In addition the effect of burstiness in the small time scales on mean assembly time and burst size distribution is investigated. A new Dynamic OBS Offset Allocation Protocol is devised and favourable comparisons are carried out between the proposed OBS protocol and the Just Enough Time (JET) protocol, in terms of mean queue length, blocking and throughput. Finally the research focuses on simulation methodologies employed throughout the thesis using the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) on a commercial NVidia GeForce 8800 GTX, which was initially designed for gaming computers. Parallel generators of Optical Bursts are implemented and simulated in ¿Compute Unified Device Architecture¿ (CUDA) and compared with simulations run on general-purpose CPU proving the GPU to be a cost-effective platform which can significantly speed-up calculations in order to make simulations of more complex and demanding networks easier to develop

Fronthaul network modeling and dimensioning meeting ultra-low latency requirements for 5G

Enabling the transport of fronthaul traffic in next-generation cellular networks [fifth-generation (5G)] following the cloud radio access network (C-RAN) architecture requires a redesign of the fronthaul network featuring high capacity and ultra-low latency. With the aim of leveraging statistical multiplexing gains, infrastructure reuse, and, ultimately, cost reduction, the research community is focusing on Ethernet-based packet-switch networks. To this end, we propose using the high queuing delay percentiles of the G/G/1 queuing model as the key metric in fronthaul network dimensioning. Simulations reveal that Kingman's exponential law of congestion provides accurate estimates on such delays for the particular case of aggregating a number of evolved Common Public Radio Interface fronthaul flows, namely functional splits Iu and IID. We conclude that conventional 10 G, 40 G, and 100 G transponders can cope with multiple legacy 10-20 MHz radio channels with worst-case delay guarantees. Conversely, scaling to 40 and 100 MHz channels will require the introduction of 200G, 400G, and even 1T high-speed transponders.The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Spanish project TEXEO (grant no. TEC2016-80339-R), and the H2020 EU-funded project BlueSPACE (grant no. 762055)

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)