On-board B-ISDN fast packet switching architectures. Phase 2: Development. Proof-of-concept architecture definition report

For the next-generation packet switched communications satellite system with onboard processing and spot-beam operation, a reliable onboard fast packet switch is essential to route packets from different uplink beams to different downlink beams. The rapid emergence of point-to-point services such as video distribution, and the large demand for video conference, distributed data processing, and network management makes the multicast function essential to a fast packet switch (FPS). The satellite's inherent broadcast features gives the satellite network an advantage over the terrestrial network in providing multicast services. This report evaluates alternate multicast FPS architectures for onboard baseband switching applications and selects a candidate for subsequent breadboard development. Architecture evaluation and selection will be based on the study performed in phase 1, 'Onboard B-ISDN Fast Packet Switching Architectures', and other switch architectures which have become commercially available as large scale integration (LSI) devices

Optical Wireless Data Center Networks

Bandwidth and computation-intensive Big Data applications in disciplines like social media, bio- and nano-informatics, Internet-of-Things (IoT), and real-time analytics, are pushing existing access and core (backbone) networks as well as Data Center Networks (DCNs) to their limits. Next generation DCNs must support continuously increasing network traffic while satisfying minimum performance requirements of latency, reliability, flexibility and scalability. Therefore, a larger number of cables (i.e., copper-cables and fiber optics) may be required in conventional wired DCNs. In addition to limiting the possible topologies, large number of cables may result into design and development problems related to wire ducting and maintenance, heat dissipation, and power consumption. To address the cabling complexity in wired DCNs, we propose OWCells, a class of optical wireless cellular data center network architectures in which fixed line of sight (LOS) optical wireless communication (OWC) links are used to connect the racks arranged in regular polygonal topologies. We present the OWCell DCN architecture, develop its theoretical underpinnings, and investigate routing protocols and OWC transceiver design. To realize a fully wireless DCN, servers in racks must also be connected using OWC links. There is, however, a difficulty of connecting multiple adjacent network components, such as servers in a rack, using point-to-point LOS links. To overcome this problem, we propose and validate the feasibility of an FSO-Bus to connect multiple adjacent network components using NLOS point-to-point OWC links. Finally, to complete the design of the OWC transceiver, we develop a new class of strictly and rearrangeably non-blocking multicast optical switches in which multicast is performed efficiently at the physical optical (lower) layer rather than upper layers (e.g., application layer). Advisors: Jitender S. Deogun and Dennis R. Alexande

PAM Performance Analysis in Multicast-Enabled Wavelength-Routing Data Centers

Multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (M-PAM) is gaining momentum for high-capacity and power-efficient cloud computing. Compared to the classic on-off keying (OOK) modulation, high-order PAM yields better spectral efficiency but is also more susceptible to physical layer degradation effects. We develop a cross-layer analysis framework to examine the PAM transmission performance in data center network environments supporting both optical multicasting and wavelength routing. Our analysis is conducted on a switch architecture based on an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) core and distributed broadcast domains, exhibiting different physical paths, and random, uncontrolled crosstalk noise. Reed-Solomon coding with rate adaptation is incorporated into PAM transceivers to compensate for impairments. Our Monte Carlo simulations point to the significant impact of AWG crosstalk on higher order PAM in wavelength-reuse architectures and the importance of code rate adaptation for signals traversing multiple routing stages. According to our study, 8-PAM offers the highest effective bit rates for signals terminating in one broadcast domain and performs poorly when considering interdomain connectivity. On the other hand, the impairment-induced degradation of interdomain capacity for 4-PAM can be limited to 20.7%, making it better suited for connections spanning two broadcast domains and a crosstalk-rich stage. Our results call for software-defined PAM transceiver designs in support of both modulation order and code rate adaptation

On-board B-ISDN fast packet switching architectures. Phase 1: Study

The broadband integrate services digital network (B-ISDN) is an emerging telecommunications technology that will meet most of the telecommunications networking needs in the mid-1990's to early next century. The satellite-based system is well positioned for providing B-ISDN service with its inherent capabilities of point-to-multipoint and broadcast transmission, virtually unlimited connectivity between any two points within a beam coverage, short deployment time of communications facility, flexible and dynamic reallocation of space segment capacity, and distance insensitive cost. On-board processing satellites, particularly in a multiple spot beam environment, will provide enhanced connectivity, better performance, optimized access and transmission link design, and lower user service cost. The following are described: the user and network aspects of broadband services; the current development status in broadband services; various satellite network architectures including system design issues; and various fast packet switch architectures and their detail designs

IP multicast over WDM networks

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Switching considerations in storage networks.

by Leung Yiu Tong.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98).Abstracts in English and Chinese.Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation --- p.1Chapter 1.2 --- Thesis Organization --- p.3Chapter 2. --- Storage Network Fundamentals --- p.4Chapter 2.1 --- Storage Network Topology --- p.4Chapter 2.1.1 --- Direct Attached Storage (DAS) --- p.5Chapter 2.1.2 --- Network Attached Storage (NAS) --- p.7Chapter 2.1.3 --- Storage Area Network (SAN) --- p.9Chapter 2.1.3.1 --- SAN and the Fibre Channel Protocol --- p.11Chapter 2.1.4 --- Summary on Storage Network Topology --- p.12Chapter 2.2 --- Storage Protocol --- p.15Chapter 2.2.1 --- Fibre Channel --- p.15Chapter 2.2.1.1 --- Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) --- p.17Chapter 2.2.1.2 --- Internet Fibre Channel Protocol (iFCP) --- p.19Chapter 2.2.2 --- Internet SCSI (iSCSI) --- p.20Chapter 2.2.3 --- InfiniBand --- p.22Chapter 2.2.4 --- Review on Storage Network Protocol --- p.25Chapter 2.3 --- Standard Organization --- p.27Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.28Chapter 3. --- Switching Design for Storage Networks --- p.30Chapter 3.1. --- Shared Bus Design --- p.32Chapter 3.2. --- Time Division Switch --- p.36Chapter 3.3. --- Share Buffer Memory Switch --- p.37Chapter 3.3.1 --- Parallel Memory Array --- p.40Chapter 3.3.2 --- Distributive Storage --- p.43Chapter 3.4. --- Crossbar Switch --- p.45Chapter 3.4.1 --- Arbitrated Crossbar vs. Buffered Crossbar --- p.46Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- Arbitrated Crossbar Switch --- p.47Chapter 3.4.1.2 --- Buffered Crossbar Switch --- p.48Chapter 3.4.2 --- Switch Scheduling --- p.49Chapter 3.4.2.1 --- Bipartite Matching --- p.50Chapter 3.4.2.2 --- Token-based Distributive Scheduling --- p.53Chapter 3.4.2.3 --- Resource Counting using Semaphore --- p.56Chapter 3.5. --- Algebraic Switches --- p.60Chapter 3.5.1 --- Switching by Conditionally Nonblocking Properties --- p.61Chapter 3.5.2 --- Self-Routing Mechanism with Zero-Bit Buffering --- p.64Chapter 3.5.3 --- Multistage Interconnection of Self-routing Concentrators --- p.69Chapter 3.6. --- Summary --- p.73Chapter 4. --- Investigating Switching Issue in Storage Networks --- p.74Chapter 4.1 --- Choosing a Suitable Switch --- p.74Chapter 4.2 --- Quality of Service (QoS) --- p.76Chapter 4.3 --- Multicasting --- p.77Chapter 4.3.1 --- Crossbar Switch --- p.78Chapter 4.3.2 --- Shared-Buffer Memory Switches --- p.80Chapter 4.3.3 --- Algebraic Switch --- p.82Chapter 4.3.4 --- Application on Multicast Transmission --- p.86Chapter 4.4 --- Load Balancing Mechanism --- p.87Chapter 4.5 --- Optimization on Storage Utilization --- p.91Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.93Chapter 5. --- Conclusion and Summary of Original Contributions --- p.9

Software defined networking for radio telescopes: a case study on the applicability of SDN for MeerKAT

Scientific instruments like radio telescopes depend on high-performance networks for internal data exchange. The high bandwidth data exchange between the components of a radio telescope makes use of multicast networking. Complex multicast networks are hard to maintain and grow, and specific installations require modified network switches. This study evaluates Software Defined Networking (SDN) for use in the MeerKAT radio telescope to alleviate the management complexity and allow for a vendor-neutral implementation. The purpose of this dissertation is to verify that an SDN multicast network can produce suitable paths for data flow through the network and to see if such an implementation is easier to maintain and grow. There is little literature regarding SDN for radio telescope networks; however, there is considerable work where different aspects of SDN are discussed and demonstrated for video streaming. SDN with multicast for video streaming, although simpler, forms the background research. Considerable work was put into understanding and documenting the different aspects of a radio telescope affecting the data network. The telescope network controller generates the OpenFlow rules required by the SDN controller and is a new concept introduced in this work. The telescope network controller is fitted with two placement algorithms to demonstrate its flexibility. Both algorithms are suitable for the expected workload, but they produce very different traffic patterns. The two algorithms are not compared to one another, they were created to demonstrate the ease of adding domain specific knowledge to an SDN. The telescope network controller makes it easy to introduce and use new flow placement algorithms, thus making traffic engineering feasible for the radio telescope. Complex multicast networks are easier to maintain and grow with SDN. SDN allows customised packet forwarding rules typically unattainable with standard routing and other standard network protocols and implementations. A radio telescope with a software-defined data network is resilient, easier to maintain, vendor-neutral, and possesses advanced traffic engineering mechanisms