A three-stage ATM switch with cell-level path allocation

A method is described for performing routing in three-stage asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches which feature multiple channels between the switch modules in adjacent stages. The method is suited to hardware implementation using parallelism to achieve a very short execution time. This allows cell-level routing to be performed, whereby routes are updated in each time slot. The algorithm allows a contention-free routing to be performed, so that buffering is not required in the intermediate stage. An algorithm with this property, which preserves the cell sequence, is referred to as a path allocation algorithm. A detailed description of the necessary hardware is presented. This hardware uses a novel circuit to count the number of cells requesting each output module, it allocates a path through the intermediate stage of the switch to each cell, and it generates a routing tag for each cell, indicating the path assigned to it. The method of routing tag assignment described employs a nonblocking copy network. The use of highly parallel hardware reduces the clock rate required of the circuitry, for a given-switch size. The performance of ATM switches using this path allocation algorithm has been evaluated by simulation, and is described

A systematic analysis of equivalence in multistage networks

Many approaches to switching in optoelectronic and optical networks decompose the switching function across multiple stages or hops. This paper addresses the problem of determining whether two multistage or multihop networks are functionally equivalent. Various ad-hoc methods have been used in the past to establish such equivalences. A systematic method for determining equivalence is presented based on properties of the link permutations used to interconnect stages of the network. This method is useful in laying out multistage networks, in determining optimal channel assignments for multihop networks, and in establishing the routing required in such networks. A purely graphical variant of the method, requiring no mathematics or calculations, is also described

On the problem of energy efficiency of multi-hop vs one-hop routing in wireless sensor networks

The hop distance strategy in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has a major impact on energy consumption of each sensor mote. Long-hop routing minimizes reception cost. However, a substantial power demand is incurred for long distance transmission. Since the transceiver is the major source of power consumption in the node, optimizing the routing for hop length can extend significantly the lifetime of the network. This paper explores when multi-hop routing is more energy efficient than direct transmission to the sink and the conditions for which the two-hop strategy is optimal. Experimental evidence is provided in to support of these conclusions. The tests showed that the superiority of the multi-hop scheme depends on the source-sink distance and reception cost. They also demonstrated that the two- hop strategy is most energy efficient when the relay is at the midpoint of the total transmission radius. Our results may be used in existing routing protocols to select optimal relays or to determine whether it is better to send packets directly to the base station or through intermediate nodes

Cell-level path allocation in a three-stage ATM switch

A method of cell-level path allocation for three-stage ATM switches has previously been proposed by the authors. The performance of ATM switches using this path allocation algorithm has been evaluated by simulation, and is described. Both uniform and non-uniform models of output loading are considered. The algorithm requires knowledge of the number of cells requesting each output module from a given input module. A fast method for counting the number of requests is described

Path allocation in a three-stage broadband switch with intermediate channel grouping

A method for path allocation for use with three-stage ATM switches that feature multiple channels between the switch modules in adjacent stages is described. The method is suited to hardware implementation using parallelism to achieve a very short execution time. This allows path allocation to be performed anew in each time slot. A detailed description of the necessary hardware is presented. This hardware counts the number of cells requesting each output module, allocates a path through the intermediate stage of the switch to each cell, and generates a routing tag for each cell, indicating the path assigned to i

Synchronization service integrated into routing layer in wireless sensor networks

The time synchronization problem needs to be considered in a distributed system. In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) this issue must be solved with limited computational, communication and energy resources. Many synchronization protocols exist for WSNs. However, in most cases these protocols are independent entities with specific packets, communication scheme and network hierarchy. This solution is not energy efficient. Because it is very rare for synchronization not to be necessary in WSNs, we advocate integrating the synchronization service into the routing layer. We have implemented this approach in a new synchronization protocol called Routing Integrated Synchronization Service (RISS). Our tests show that RISS is very time and energy efficient and also is characterized by a small overhead. We have compared its performance experimentally to that of the FTSP synchronization protocol and it has proved to offer better time precision than the latter protocol

Transparent and scalable client-side server selection using netlets

Replication of web content in the Internet has been found to improve service response time, performance and reliability offered by web services. When working with such distributed server systems, the location of servers with respect to client nodes is found to affect service response time perceived by clients in addition to server load conditions. This is due to the characteristics of the network path segments through which client requests get routed. Hence, a number of researchers have advocated making server selection decisions at the client-side of the network. In this paper, we present a transparent approach for client-side server selection in the Internet using Netlet services. Netlets are autonomous, nomadic mobile software components which persist and roam in the network independently, providing predefined network services. In this application, Netlet based services embedded with intelligence to support server selection are deployed by servers close to potential client communities to setup dynamic service decision points within the network. An anycast address is used to identify available distributed decision points in the network. Each service decision point transparently directs client requests to the best performing server based on its in-built intelligence supported by real-time measurements from probes sent by the Netlet to each server. It is shown that the resulting system provides a client-side server selection solution which is server-customisable, scalable and fault transparent

Traffic engineering eye diagram

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words - this statement also applies to networking topics. Thus, to effectively monitor network performance we need tools which present the performance metrics in a graphical way which is also clear and informative. We propose a tool for this purpose which we call the traffic engineering eye diagram (TEED). Eye diagrams are used in digital communications to analyse the quality of a digital signal; the TEED can similarly he used in the traffic engineering field to analyse the load balancing ability of a TE algorithm. In this paper we describe how to create such TEEDs and how to use them to analyse and compare various traffic engineering approaches

Connectivity aware routing - a method for finding bandwidth constrained paths over a variety of network topologies

Multimedia traffic and real-time e-commerce applications can experience quality degradation in traditional networks such as the Internet. These difficulties can be overcome in networks which feature dynamically set up paths with bandwidth and delay guarantees. The problem of selecting such constrained paths is the task of quality of service (QoS) routing. Researchers have proposed several ways of implementing QoS routing, preferring either mechanisms which distribute network load or algorithms which conserve resources. Our previous studies have shown that network connectivity is an important factor when deciding which of these two approaches gives the best performance. In this paper we propose an algorithm, which features both load distribution and resource conservation. It takes a hybrid approach which balances between these two extreme approaches, according to the level of network connectivity. Our simulations indicate that this algorithm offers excellent performance over a than existing algorithms

MENU: multicast emulation using netlets and unicast

High-end networking applications such as Internet TV and software distribution have generated a demand for multicast protocols as an integral part of the network. This will allow such applications to support data dissemination to large groups of users in a scalable and reliable manner. Existing IP multicast protocols lack these features and also require state storage in the core of the network which is costly to implement. In this paper, we present a new multicast protocol referred to as MENU. It realises a scalable and a reliable multicast protocol model by pushing the tree building complexity to the edges of the network, thereby eliminating processing and state storage in the core of the network. The MENU protocol builds multicast support in the network using mobile agent based active network services, Netlets, and unicast addresses. The multicast delivery tree in MENU is a two level hierarchical structure where users are partitioned into client communities based on geographical proximity. Each client community in the network is treated as a single virtual destination for traffic from the server. Netlet based services referred to as hot spot delegates (HSDs) are deployed by servers at "hot spots" close to each client community. They function as virtual traffic destinations for the traffic from the server and also act as virtual source nodes for all users in the community. The source node feeds data to these distributed HSDs which in turn forward data to all downstream users through a locally constructed traffic delivery tree. It is shown through simulations that the resulting system provides an efficient means to incrementally build a source customisable secured multicast protocol which is both scalable and reliable. Furthermore, results show that MENU employs minimal processing and reduced state information in networks when compared to existing IP multicast protocols