Priority based dynamic lightpath allocation in WDM networks.

Internet development generates new bandwidth requirement every day. Optical networks employing WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) technology can provide high capacity, low error rate and low delay. They are considered to be future backbone networks. Since WDM networks usually operate in a high speed, network failure (such as fiber cut), even for a short term, can cause huge data lost. So design robust WDM network to survive faults is a crucial issue in WDM networks. This thesis introduces a new and efficient MILP (Mixed Integer Linear Programming) formulation to solve dynamic lightpath allocation problem in survivable WDM networks, using both shared and dedicated path protection. The formulation defines multiple levels of service to further improve resource utilization. Dijkstra\u27s shortest path algorithm is used to pre-compute up to 3 alternative routes between any node pair, so as to limit the lightpath routing problem within up to 3 routes instead of whole network-wide. This way can shorten the solution time of MILP formulation; make it acceptable for practical size network. Extensive experiments carried out on a number of networks show this new MILP formulation can improve performance and is feasible for real-life network. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-01, page: 0249. Adviser: Arunita Jaekel. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2004

A quantitative survey of the power saving potential in IP-Over-WDM backbone networks

The power consumption in Information and Communication Technologies networks is growing year by year; this growth presents challenges from technical, economic, and environmental points of view. This has lead to a great number of research publications on "green" telecommunication networks. In response, a number of survey works have appeared as well. However, with respect to backbone networks, most survey works: 1) do not allow for an easy cross validation of the savings reported in the various works and 2) nor do they provide a clear overview of the individual and combined power saving potentials. Therefore, in this paper, we survey the reported saving potential in IP-over-WDM backbone telecommunication networks across the existing body of research in that area. We do this by mapping more than ten different approaches to a concise analytical model, which allows us to estimate the combined power reduction potential. Our estimates indicate that the power reduction potential of the once-only approaches is 2.3x in a Moderate Effort scenario and 31x in a Best Effort scenario. Factoring in the historic and projected yearly efficiency improvements ("Moore's law") roughly doubles both values on a ten-year horizon. The large difference between the outcome of Moderate Effort and Best Effort scenarios is explained by the disparity and lack of clarity of the reported saving results and by our (partly) subjective assessment of the feasibility of the proposed approaches. The Moderate Effort scenario will not be sufficient to counter the projected traffic growth, although the Best Effort scenario indicates that sufficient potential is likely available. The largest isolated power reduction potential is available in improving the power associated with cooling and power provisioning and applying sleep modes to overdimensioned equipment

Traffic engineering in dynamic optical networks

Traffic Engineering (TE) refers to all the techniques a Service Provider employs to improve the efficiency and reliability of network operations. In IP over Optical (IPO) networks, traffic coming from upper layers is carried over the logical topology defined by the set of established lightpaths. Within this framework then, TE techniques allow to optimize the configuration of optical resources with respect to an highly dynamic traffic demand. TE can be performed with two main methods: if the demand is known only in terms of an aggregated traffic matrix, the problem of automatically updating the configuration of an optical network to accommodate traffic changes is called Virtual Topology Reconfiguration (VTR). If instead the traffic demand is known in terms of data-level connection requests with sub-wavelength granularity, arriving dynamically from some source node to any destination node, the problem is called Dynamic Traffic Grooming (DTG). In this dissertation new VTR algorithms for load balancing in optical networks based on Local Search (LS) techniques are presented. The main advantage of using LS is the minimization of network disruption, since the reconfiguration involves only a small part of the network. A comparison between the proposed schemes and the optimal solutions found via an ILP solver shows calculation time savings for comparable results of network congestion. A similar load balancing technique has been applied to alleviate congestion in an MPLS network, based on the efficient rerouting of Label-Switched Paths (LSP) from the most congested links to allow a better usage of network resources. Many algorithms have been developed to deal with DTG in IPO networks, where most of the attention is focused on optimizing the physical resources utilization by considering specific constraints on the optical node architecture, while very few attention has been put so far on the Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees for the carried traffic. In this thesis a novel Traffic Engineering scheme is proposed to guarantee QoS from both the viewpoint of service differentiation and transmission quality. Another contribution in this thesis is a formal framework for the definition of dynamic grooming policies in IPO networks. The framework is then specialized for an overlay architecture, where the control plane of the IP and optical level are separated, and no information is shared between the two. A family of grooming policies based on constraints on the number of hops and on the bandwidth sharing degree at the IP level is defined, and its performance analyzed in both regular and irregular topologies. While most of the literature on DTG problem implicitly considers the grooming of low-speed connections onto optical channels using a TDM approach, the proposed grooming policies are evaluated here by considering a realistic traffic model which consider a Dynamic Statistical Multiplexing (DSM) approach, i.e. a single wavelength channel is shared between multiple IP elastic traffic flows

Energy Efficient Network Function Virtualisation in 5G Networks

Once the dust settled around 4G, 5G mobile networks become the buzz word in the world of communication systems. The recent surge of bandwidth-greedy applications and the proliferation of smart phones and other wireless connected devices has led to an enormous increase in mobile traffic. Therefore, 5G networks have to deal with a huge number of connected devices of different types and applications, including devices running life-critical applications, and facilitate access to mobile resources easily. Therefore given the increase in traffic and number of connected devices, intelligent and energy efficient architectures are needed to adequately and sustainably meet these requirements. In this thesis network function virtualisation is investigated as a promising paradigm that can contribute to energy consumption reduction in 5G networks. The work carried out in this thesis considers the energy efficiency mainly in terms of processing power consumption and network power consumption. Furthermore, it considers the energy consumption reduction that can be achieved by optimising the locations of virtual machines running the mobile 5G network functions. It also evaluates the consolidation and pooling of the mobile resources. A framework was introduced to virtualise the mobile core network functions and baseband processing functions. Mixed integer linear programming optimisation models and heuristics were developed minimise the total power consumption. The impact of virtualisation in the 5G front haul and back haul passive optical network was investigated by developing MILP models to optimise the location of virtual machines. A further consideration is caching the contents close to the user and its impact on the total power consumption. The impact of a number of factor on the power consumption were investigated such as the total number of active users, the backhaul to the fronthaul traffic ratio, reduction/expansion in the traffic due to baseband processing, and the communication between virtual machines. Finally, the integration of network function virtualisation and content caching were introduced and their impact on improving the energy efficiency was investigated

Characterization, design and re-optimization on multi-layer optical networks

L'augment de volum de tràfic IP provocat per l'increment de serveis multimèdia com HDTV o vídeo conferència planteja nous reptes als operadors de xarxa per tal de proveir transmissió de dades eficient. Tot i que les xarxes mallades amb multiplexació per divisió de longitud d'ona (DWDM) suporten connexions òptiques de gran velocitat, aquestes xarxes manquen de flexibilitat per suportar tràfic d’inferior granularitat, fet que provoca un pobre ús d'ample de banda. Per fer front al transport d'aquest tràfic heterogeni, les xarxes multicapa representen la millor solució. Les xarxes òptiques multicapa permeten optimitzar la capacitat mitjançant l'empaquetament de connexions de baixa velocitat dins de connexions òptiques de gran velocitat. Durant aquesta operació, es crea i modifica constantment una topologia virtual dinàmica gràcies al pla de control responsable d’aquestes operacions. Donada aquesta dinamicitat, un ús sub-òptim de recursos pot existir a la xarxa en un moment donat. En aquest context, una re-optimizació periòdica dels recursos utilitzats pot ser aplicada, millorant així l'ús de recursos. Aquesta tesi està dedicada a la caracterització, planificació, i re-optimització de xarxes òptiques multicapa de nova generació des d’un punt de vista unificat incloent optimització als nivells de capa física, capa òptica, capa virtual i pla de control. Concretament s'han desenvolupat models estadístics i de programació matemàtica i meta-heurístiques. Aquest objectiu principal s'ha assolit mitjançant cinc objectius concrets cobrint diversos temes oberts de recerca. En primer lloc, proposem una metodologia estadística per millorar el càlcul del factor Q en problemes d'assignació de ruta i longitud d'ona considerant interaccions físiques (IA-RWA). Amb aquest objectiu, proposem dos models estadístics per computar l'efecte XPM (el coll d'ampolla en termes de computació i complexitat) per problemes IA-RWA, demostrant la precisió d’ambdós models en el càlcul del factor Q en escenaris reals de tràfic. En segon lloc i fixant-nos a la capa òptica, presentem un nou particionament del conjunt de longituds d'ona que permet maximitzar, respecte el cas habitual, la quantitat de tràfic extra proveït en entorns de protecció compartida. Concretament, definim diversos models estadístics per estimar la quantitat de tràfic donat un grau de servei objectiu, i diferents models de planificació de xarxa amb l'objectiu de maximitzar els ingressos previstos i el valor actual net de la xarxa. Després de resoldre aquests problemes per xarxes reals, concloem que la nostra proposta maximitza ambdós objectius. En tercer lloc, afrontem el disseny de xarxes multicapa robustes davant de fallida simple a la capa IP/MPLS i als enllaços de fibra. Per resoldre aquest problema eficientment, proposem un enfocament basat en sobre-dimensionar l'equipament de la capa IP/MPLS i recuperar la connectivitat i el comparem amb la solució convencional basada en duplicar la capa IP/MPLS. Després de comparar solucions mitjançant models ILP i heurístiques, concloem que la nostra solució permet obtenir un estalvi significatiu en termes de costos de desplegament. Com a quart objectiu, introduïm un mecanisme adaptatiu per reduir l'ús de ports opto-electrònics (O/E) en xarxes multicapa sota escenaris de tràfic dinàmic. Una formulació ILP i diverses heurístiques són desenvolupades per resoldre aquest problema, que permet reduir significativament l’ús de ports O/E en temps molt curts. Finalment, adrecem el problema de disseny resilient del pla de control GMPLS. Després de proposar un nou model analític per quantificar la resiliència en topologies mallades de pla de control, usem aquest model per proposar un problema de disseny de pla de control. Proposem un procediment iteratiu lineal i una heurística i els usem per resoldre instàncies reals, arribant a la conclusió que es pot reduir significativament la quantitat d'enllaços del pla de control sense afectar la qualitat de servei a la xarxa.The explosion of IP traffic due to the increase of IP-based multimedia services such as HDTV or video conferencing poses new challenges to network operators to provide a cost-effective data transmission. Although Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) meshed transport networks support high-speed optical connections, these networks lack the flexibility to support sub-wavelength traffic leading to poor bandwidth usage. To cope with the transport of that huge and heterogeneous amount of traffic, multilayer networks represent the most accepted architectural solution. Multilayer optical networks allow optimizing network capacity by means of packing several low-speed traffic streams into higher-speed optical connections (lightpaths). During this operation, a dynamic virtual topology is created and modified the whole time thanks to a control plane responsible for the establishment, maintenance, and release of connections. Because of this dynamicity, a suboptimal allocation of resources may exist at any time. In this context, a periodically resource reallocation could be deployed in the network, thus improving network resource utilization. This thesis is devoted to the characterization, planning, and re-optimization of next-generation multilayer networks from an integral perspective including physical layer, optical layer, virtual layer, and control plane optimization. To this aim, statistical models, mathematical programming models and meta-heuristics are developed. More specifically, this main objective has been attained by developing five goals covering different open issues. First, we provide a statistical methodology to improve the computation of the Q-factor for impairment-aware routing and wavelength assignment problems (IA-RWA). To this aim we propose two statistical models to compute the Cross-Phase Modulation variance (which represents the bottleneck in terms of computation time and complexity) in off-line and on-line IA-RWA problems, proving the accuracy of both models when computing Q-factor values in real traffic scenarios. Second and moving to the optical layer, we present a new wavelength partitioning scheme that allows maximizing the amount of extra traffic provided in shared path protected environments compared with current solutions. Specifically, we define several statistical models to estimate the traffic intensity given a target grade of service, and different network planning problems for maximizing the expected revenues and net present value. After solving these problems for real networks, we conclude that our proposed scheme maximizes both revenues and NPV. Third, we tackle the design of survivable multilayer networks against single failures at the IP/MPLS layer and WSON links. To efficiently solve this problem, we propose a new approach based on over-dimensioning IP/MPLS devices and lightpath connectivity and recovery and we compare it against the conventional solution based on duplicating backbone IP/MPLS nodes. After evaluating both approaches by means of ILP models and heuristic algorithms, we conclude that our proposed approach leads to significant CAPEX savings. Fourth, we introduce an adaptive mechanism to reduce the usage of opto-electronic (O/E) ports of IP/MPLS-over-WSON multilayer networks in dynamic scenarios. A ILP formulation and several heuristics are developed to solve this problem, which allows significantly reducing the usage of O/E ports in very short running times. Finally, we address the design of resilient control plane topologies in GMPLS-enabled transport networks. After proposing a novel analytical model to quantify the resilience in mesh control plane topologies, we use this model to propose a problem to design the control plane topology. An iterative model and a heuristic are proposed and used to solve real instances, concluding that a significant reduction in the number of control plane links can be performed without affecting the quality of service of the network

Real-Time Energy Price-Aware Anycast RWA for Scheduled Lightpath Demands in Optical Data Center Networks

The energy consumption of the data center networks and the power consumption associated with transporting data to the users is considerably large, and it constitutes a significant portion of their costs. Hence, development of energy efficient schemes is very crucial to address this problem. Our research considers the fixed window traffic allocation model and the anycast routing scheme to select the best option for the destination node. Proper routing schemes and appropriate combination of the replicas can take care of the issue for energy utilization and at the same time help diminish costs for the data centers. We have also considered the real-time pricing model (which considers price changes every hour) to select routes for the lightpaths. Hence, we propose an ILP to handle the energyaware routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem for fixed window scheduled traffic model, with an objective to minimize the overall electricity costs of a datacenter network by reducing the actual power consumption, and using low-cost resources whenever possible