A reservation protocol for broadcast WDM networks and stability analysis

Abstract

We consider the problem of coordinating access to the various channels of a single-hop wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network. We present a high performance reservation (HiPeR-ℓ) protocol specifically designed to overcome the potential inefficiencies of operating in environments with non-negligible processing, tuning, and propagation delays. HiPeR-ℓ differs from previous reservation protocols in that each control packet makes reservations for all data packets waiting in a node's queues, thus significantly reducing control overhead. Packets are scheduled for transmission using algorithms that can effectively mask the tuning times. HiPeR-ℓ also uses pipelining to mask processing times and propagation delays; parameter ℓ of the protocol is used to control the degree of pipelining. We use Markov chain theory to obtain a sufficient condition for the stability of the protocol. The stability condition provides insight into the factors affecting the operation of the protocol, such as the degree of load balancing across the various channels, and the quality of the scheduling algorithms. The analysis is fairly general, as it holds for MMBP-like arrival processes with any number of states, and for non-uniform destinations.