Burst Assembly Research Articles

Analysis of burst/packet assembly techniques in high-speed optical switching network

In the Optical Burst Switching (OBS) Network, the burst assembly technique is one of the challenging issues in the implementation of the system. It has the influence on the burst characteristic, which gives an impact on the network performance. Burst assembly is the process of assembling incoming data from the higher layer into bursts at the ingress edge node of the OBS network. The burst assembly mechanism must then place these packets into bursts based on some assembly policy. In this paper, the OBS system performance has been observed in simulated 12-node network based on Just-Enough-Time (JET) reservation protocol with various burst assembly techniques under the standard drop policy (DP) and the segmentation policy for contention resolution. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed Adaptive-Threshold with Fixed Maximum Time Limitation (ATH-FMTL) burst assembly scheme is better than conventional burst assembly schemes in terms of loss probability and average assembly delay. Also, the proposed scheme avoids a sudden increase in the burst size and makes the burst sent out smoother as compared to conventional schemes.

Congestion window-based adaptive burst assembly for TCP traffic in OBS networks

Burst assembly is one of the key factors affecting the TCP performance in optical burst switching (OBS) networks. When the TCP congestion window is small, the fixed-delay burst assembler waits unnecessarily long, which increases the end-to-end delay and thus decreases the TCP goodput. On the other hand, when the TCP congestion window becomes larger, the fixed-delay burst assembler may unnecessarily generate a large number of small-sized bursts, which increases the overhead and decreases the correlation gain, resulting in a reduction in the TCP goodput. In this paper, we propose adaptive burst assembly algorithms that use the congestion window sizes of TCP flows. Using simulations, we show that the usage of the congestion window size in the burst assembly algorithm significantly improves the TCP goodput (by up to 38.4% on the average and by up to 173.89% for individual flows) compared with the timer-based assembly, even when the timer-based assembler uses the optimum assembly period. It is shown through simulations that even when estimated values of the congestion window size, that are obtained via passive measurements, are used, TCP goodput improvements are still close to the results obtained by using exact values of the congestion window.

On Delay Performance and Burst Assembly for Wireless Mesh and Optical Burst Switching Converged Metro Area Network

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN) have attracted increasing attention from the research community as a high-performance and low-cost solution to last-mile broadband Internet access. On the other side, Optical Burst Switching (OBS) is a promising access technology that uses optical fiber with burst switching paradigm. In this paper, we propose a novel Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) architecture, called Optical Burst Wireless Mesh Architecture (OBWMA) which integrates WMN at the user access side and OBS at the core of the MAN. OBWMA aims to combine advantages of both WMNs and OBS networks, such as large coverage at low cost and bandwidth availability. We specify the details of the interconnection and the internetworking of WMNs and the OBS network in OBWMA. Moreover, we develop an analytical model to compute the end-to-end delay in OBWMA in order to support flow requests with delay constraints. Furthermore, we propose a Control Bridge (CB) that ensures Quality of Service (QoS) mapping at the border between the WMN and the OBS parts. Also, we propose a burst assembly scheme, called Adaptive Hybrid Burst Assembly scheme (AHBA). Simulation results using ns-2 demonstrate the feasibility of OBWMA and the validity of our analytical model.

Dynamic threshold-based assembly algorithms for optical burst switching networks subject to burst rate constraints

Control plane load stems from burst control packets which need to be transmitted end-to-end over the control channel and further processed at core nodes of an optical burst switching (OBS) network for reserving resources in advance for an upcoming burst. Burst assembly algorithms are generally designed without taking into consideration the control plane load they lead to. In this study, we propose traffic-adaptive burst assembly algorithms that attempt to minimize the average burst assembly delay subject to burst rate constraints and hence limit the control plane load. The algorithms we propose are simple to implement and we show using synthetic and real traffic traces that they perform substantially better than the usual timer-based schemes.

An Efficient Network Utilization Scheme for Optical Burst Switched Networks

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) is one of the most important switching technologies for future IP over wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. In OBS Network, the burst assembly technique is a challenging issue in the implementation of the system. Burst assembly influences burst characteristics, which negatively impacts network performance. In this paper, the authors propose an efficient hybrid burst assembly approach, which is based on approximate queuing network model. To reduce the time complexity, an approximate queuing network model has been considered. Throughput performance has been investigated, taking into account both burst loss probability and time complexity. Simulation results have shown that the proposed hybrid approach based on variable burst length threshold and fixed maximum time limitation provides Simulation results have also shown a good trade-off between burst blocking performance and scheduling time.

Analysis of Burst Segmentation in Optical Burst Switching Networks Considering Path Correlation

One of the key problems hindering the realization of optical burst switching (OBS) technology in the core networks is the losses due to contention among the bursts at the core nodes. Such contention losses do not necessarily indicate a situation of congestion. Burst segmentation is an effective contention resolution technique used to reduce the number of packets lost due to the burst losses. In this work, we propose a method of analyzing the benefit of burst segmentation considering the effect of correlation in traffic across multiple paths. Starting with the cumulative distribution function (cdf) of the length of the bursts at the ingress node destined to a particular egress node, we evaluate the cdf of the burst length at each node along the path considering the probability of segmentation and the traffic on the adjoining paths. Comparing the burst length at the egress node with that at the ingress node, we evaluate the byte loss probability (ByLP) along the path and also the network-wide average ByLP. The proposed analytical framework studies the impact of segmentation on packet loss rate considering the effect of the length of a path, the number of paths adjoining a path (extent of path correlation), the effect of load on a path and other correlated paths, and the burst assembly algorithm. Analytical and simulation results in this work show that the proposed method of analysis gives a good understanding of the influence of aforementioned factors on the benefit of segmentation in OBS networks.

A burst assembly method to reduce end-to-end delay in optical burst switching networks

Although the offset-time-based scheme can differentiate loss rates of packets according to their QoS levels in optical burst switching networks, it also increases end-to-end delay of packets with h...

Control-Plane Congestion in Optical-Burst-Switched Networks

We examine optical burst switching (OBS) networks with out-of-band header transmission and electronic processing. We present the first detailed analysis of the potential effects of control- plane processing limitations on the overall throughput and latency performance of OBS networks. We present an accurate analytical model that explicitly accounts for the header queuing process in core nodes, and we provide a set of design guidelines for provisioning OBS networks such that the control- plane does not become the throughput bottleneck of the system. We also estimate the minimum end-to-end latency associated with offsets and burst assembly that is required to ensure proper OBS operation. We find that ultrafast header-processing speeds (<100 ns per header) are not required for efficient OBS operation. We show that provisioning a header-offset size that corresponds to a header-processing-queue length of 50 is sufficient for a wide range of practical OBS systems. For a fully meshed network topology, a total end-to-end control latency that is 10 times longer than the duration of a single header- processing duration is required for proper network operation. By contrast, more sparsely connected networks, such as those deployed in the long haul and metro today, may require an average end-to-end control latency that is hundreds of times as large as the header-processing duration.

Comparison analysis of optical burst switched network architectures

Optical burst switching (OBS) is a promising paradigm for the next-generation Internet infrastructure. In this paper, a novel efficient network architecture for OBS has been presented and compared with conventional OBS architectures. To enhance OBS system performance, the architecture employs a novel proposed burst assembly algorithm, fiber delay lines (FDLs) and dynamic route selection technique. A queuing model is used to predict the system behavior for both classless and prioritized traffic. Simple closed-form expressions are obtained for the burst-loss probability of both classless and prioritized traffic. Numerical results show that the proposed architecture provides an accurate fit for the performance of the highest traffic class and lower bounds for the other traffic classes that are tighter than earlier known results.

TCP Performance Over Optical Burst-Switched Networks With Different Access Technologies

The interworking between different access networks and an optical burst switched network is considered here. The end-to-end performance of the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is evaluated by jointly accounting for access network protocols and the burst assembly procedure at ingress edge nodes, both with wired and wireless access solutions, based on electrical and advanced optical technologies. The influence of the assembly timeout in different access contexts is presented, and numerical investigations are performed by means of ns-2 simulations. Results show that end-to-end throughput is mostly influenced by the delay introduced by access protocols, which arise in the analyzed different scenarios, and by assembly timeout. These results provide meaningful insights about interconnected systems to the task of overall network design and, in particular, to the setup of the interworking unit parameters.

On transmission control protocol synchronization in optical burst switching

This article studies the transmission control protocol (TCP) synchronization effect in optical burst switched networks. Synchronization of TCP flows appears when optical bursts with segments from different flows inside are dropped in the network causing flow congestion windows decreasing simultaneously. In this article, this imminent effect is studied with different assembly schemes and network scenarios. Different metrics are applied to quantitatively assess synchronization with classical assembly schemes. A new burst assembly scheme is proposed that statically or dynamically allocates flows to multiple assembly queues to control flow aggregation within the assembly cycle. The effectiveness of the scheme has been evaluated, showing a good improvement in optical link utilization.

An adaptive load-aware burst assembly scheme to achieve optimal performance of FDL buffers in OBS networks

Optical burst switching (OBS) is regarded as one of the most promising switching technologies for next generation optical networks. Contention resolution of data bursts is a critical mission to implement practical OBS. The use of fiber delay line (FDL) buffers has received a lot of attention as a fundamental but effective solution to resolve burst contention. Several studies have investigated the way to achieve the optimal performance of FDL buffers at a single-node level. However, this article studies how to achieve the best performance of OBS networks with FDL buffers under varying traffic condition at a network level. For this purpose, we propose an adaptive load-aware burst assembly (ALBA) scheme, which adaptively adjusts the size threshold of burst assembler optimized to the current network traffic load. A piggybacking method used to deliver the traffic-load information from core nodes to ingress edge nodes accelerates the adaptiveness of the proposed scheme by reducing the update time of the size threshold. The effectiveness of the ALBA scheme is proved by comparing with No-FDL case and fixed size-threshold cases under changing traffic-load environment from extensive simulation tests.

Using multiple per egress burstifiers for enhanced TCP performance in OBS networks

Burst assembly mechanism is one of the fundamental factors that determine the performance of an optical burst switching (OBS) network. In this paper, we investigate the influence of the number of burstifiers on TCP performance for an OBS network. The goodput of TCP flows between an ingress node and an egress node traveling through an optical network is studied as the number of assembly buffers per destination varies. First, the burst-length independent losses resulting from the contention in the core OBS network using a non-void-filling burst scheduling algorithm, e.g., Horizon, are studied. Then, burst-length dependent losses arising as a result of void-filling scheduling algorithms, e.g., LAUC-VF, are studied for two different TCP flow models: FTP-type long-lived flows and variable size short-lived flows. Simulation results show that for both types of scheduling algorithms, both types of TCP flow models, and different TCP versions (Reno, Newreno and Sack), TCP goodput increases as the number of burst assemblers per egress node is increased for an OBS network employing timer-based assembly algorithm. The improvement from one burstifier to moderate number of burst assemblers is significant (15–50% depending on the burst loss probability, per-hop processing delay, and the TCP version), but the goodput difference between moderate number of buffers and per-flow aggregation is relatively small, implying that an OBS edge switch should use moderate number of assembly buffers per destination for enhanced TCP performance without substantially increasing the hardware complexity.

An Intelligent Segmented Burst Assembly Mechanism in Optical Burst Switching Networks

We focus on the burst assembly mechanism and propose a new intelligent method in which the burst is assembled from several internet protocol (IP) packets in which the number of IP packets is changed according to the traffic load and the burst is segmented into several parts, called the ISOBS mechanism. The average burst assembly time of the ISOBS mechanism decreases as compared with the fixed-assembly-time and fixed-assembly-time-and-length mechanisms. The loss ratio decreases 50% as compared with the general optical burst switching (OBS) mechanism. The last segment can carry high quality of service (QOS) information. We can achieve that the loss ratio of the last segment is almost zero when the traffic load is less than 0.05. When the traffic load is 0.9, the loss ratio of the last segment is 0.0041. The ISOBS can support to transmit different QOS data.

Window-based burst assembly scheme for TCP traffic over OBS

The impact of burstification delay on the transmission control protocol traffic statistics is presented as well as a new assembly scheme that uses flow window size as the threshold criterion. It is shown that short assembly times are ideally suitable for sources with small congestion windows, allowing for a speedup in their transmission. In addition, large assembly times do not yield any throughput gain, despite the large number of segments per burst transmitted, but result in a low throughput variation, and thus a higher notion of fairness among the individual flows. To this end we propose a new burst assembly scheme that dynamically assigns flows to different assembly queues with different assembly timers, based on their instant window size. Results show that the proposed scheme with different timers provides a higher average throughput together with a smaller variance, which is a good compromise for bandwidth dimensioning.

Loss rate-based burst assembly to resolve contention in optical burst switching networks

Two loss rate-based optical burst assembly techniques addressing contention resolution are studied. These techniques stem from the burst assembly schemes using adaptive thresholds, which have been introduced earlier by the authors. The loss rates on the links/paths leading to the destination nodes are used to estimate congestion levels. Three alternative time and size threshold value pairs are employed based on the congestion level observed. Here, the aim is to generate short bursts under heavy traffic and long bursts under light traffic conditions in order to enhance performance. The results that are obtained in terms of byte loss rate and delay are compared with those of the hybrid burst assembly. It is observed that the adaptive techniques significantly enhance the byte loss rate as traffic gets heavier while keeping end-to-end delay in a feasible range.

On Achieving the Optimal Performance of FDL Buffers Using Burst Assembly

This letter proposes a new dynamic burst length adjustment mechanism to achieve optimal performance of fiber delay line (FDL) buffers in optical burst switching networks. Our results show that burst blocking probability at an optical node with a fixed length FDL buffer can be kept at minimum under changing traffic conditions using the proposed mechanism.

Interleaved Traffic Splitting: A promising technique to solve False Timeout

In this paper, we analyze the False Timeout (FTO) problem that TCP flows suffered in OBS networks and propose Interleaved Traffic Splitting (ITS) to solve the problem. We show that the collision loss of ACK bursts may also cause FTO, which has been neglected by previous researchers. As TCP Sack is designed to recover from multiple packet losses, we find that a Sack flow can recover its data transmission without triggering retransmission timeout if packet loss is not too severe. This suggests limiting the number of packets carried by a single burst. In ITS, this is achieved by carrying out a parallel, interleaved burst assembly process at each ingress OBS edge router. We show that ITS tackles the FTO problem caused by the loss of both data and ACK bursts. Unlike other existing approaches, the ITS scheme requires only modification to the assembly/de-assembly mechanisms implemented at the edge routers. It does not add complexities to the network management or the router design. In this paper, both analytical and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance improvement of ITS. Our analysis further shows that the use of two parallel bursts is optimum for ITS.

Modeling and Synthesis of Traffic in Optical Burst-Switched Networks

We analyze burst assembly process as the main building block of the optical burst switching (OBS) paradigm. The analysis is performed for time-based, volume-based, as well as hybrid burst assemblers. Under the assumption that the process of packet arrival to the assembly buffer is Poisson, exact analytical expressions are derived for length and interdeparture time of bursts that are generated by these three classes of assembly algorithms. Furthermore, we consider the issue of generating burst trace, which arises during the performance evaluation of OBS networks through discrete-event simulation. In such a simulation study, a significant part of the simulation time, particularly in the case of a network with a large number of ingress nodes, is used by the implementation of the burst assembly algorithms. This is due to the fact that each data burst is a result of aggregating several short-length packets, which-in a straightforward approach-have to be individually generated and, afterward, ldquomeltedrdquo into the burst. We present a novel approach to fast generation of bursts, which is based on the analytical models that are developed for burst length and burst interdeparture time distributions as well as an efficient generation technique (composition) supporting the generation of these distributions. The analysis is completed by numerical results that validate the accuracy of developed models and demonstrate the speedup gain of using proposed burst generation algorithms.

Maximizing Throughput for Optical Burst Switching Networks

In optical burst switching (OBS) networks, a key problem is to schedule as many bursts as possible on wavelength channels so that the throughput is maximized and the burst loss is minimized. Most of the current research on OBS has been concentrated on reducing burst loss in an ldquoaverage-caserdquo sense, and little effort has been devoted to understanding the worst case performance. Since OBS itself is an open-loop control system, it may exhibit a worst case behavior when adversely synchronized. On the other hand, most commercial systems require an acceptable worst case performance. In this paper, we use competitive analysis to analyze the worst case performance of a large set of scheduling algorithms, called best-effort online scheduling algorithms, for OBS networks and establish a number of interesting upper and lower bounds on the performance of such algorithms. Our analysis shows that the performance of any best-effort online algorithm is closely related to a few factors, such as the range of offset time, maximum-to-minimum burst-length ratio, and the number of data channels. A surprising discovery is that the worst case performance of any best-effort online scheduling algorithm is primarily determined by the maximum-to-minimum burst-length ratio, followed by the range of offset time. Furthermore, if all bursts have the same burst length and offset time, all best-effort online scheduling algorithms generate the same optimal solution, regardless of how different they may look. Our analysis can also be extended to some non-best-effort online scheduling algorithms, such as the well-known Horizon algorithm, and establish similar bounds. Based on the analytic results, we give guidelines for several widely discussed OBS problems, including burst assembly, offset time setting, and scheduling algorithm design, and propose a new channel reservation protocol called virtual fixed offset-time (VFO) to improve the worst case performance. Our simulation shows that VFO can also reduce the average burst loss rate.