Optical Data Center Networks Research Articles

Link-aware distributed steiner sub-tree scheme for all-optical multicasting in elastic optical datacenter networks

The distributed sub-tree (DST) scheme in the elastic optical datacenter network (EODN) can use multiple datacenters (DCs) to jointly serve a multicast request. By allocating some suitable DCs to the multicast request, the route length can be reduced, thereby reducing resource consumption and decreasing blocking probability. However, DST scheme also has a defect that, all source nodes of multicast requests are hosted in the DCs, which leads to that links connecting the DCs nodes have higher usage than other links, and the resulting network bottleneck makes the network performance declines sharply. In this paper, we propose a link-aware cost calculation (LA-CC) formula and a link-aware distributed steiner sub-tree (LA-DSST) algorithm to make the usage of all links as balanced as possible, thus reducing the blocking probability caused by network bottlenecks. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm significantly improves performance with the lowest blocking probability compared to existing well-performing algorithms.

Nanosecond photonic integrated multicast switch for low-latency optical wireless data center networks

Optical wireless data center networks (OW-DCNs), featuring no cable complexity, low latency, and high throughput, are highly attractive for the next generation of DCNs, while photonic integration provides a compact, low-power, and low-cost solution. In this Letter, we propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, OW-DCN architecture using photonic integrated multicast switches (PIC-MCSs) to realize fast optical switching and multicast operation between top-of-the-rack switches (ToRs). By properly turning on/off the transmission channels of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based PIC-MCS, the optical signals are directed to different target ToRs via arrayed waveguide grating routers (AWGRs) and free-space links. A 4×2 PIC-MCS with lossless multicast operation has been designed and fabricated. An OW-DCN of 4×4 interconnected racks has been experimentally demonstrated with the chip and a 4×4 AWGR. The results confirm the performance of low-latency switching, dynamic bandwidth reallocation, and WDM multicast transmission. Error-free operation at 10 Gb/s OOK with a power penalty of less than 1 dB is achieved, showing a negligible impact of cross talk on the PIC-MCS.

ReSAW: a reconfigurable and picosecond-synchronized optical data center network based on an AWGR and the WR protocol

The explosive growth of data center (DC) traffic imposes unprecedented challenges on the current electrical switch-based data center networks (DCNs) with the bottleneck of limited bandwidth and high latency. Benefitting from transparency to the data rate and format, optical switching with theoretically infinite bandwidth could overcome the bandwidth bottleneck of electrical switching DCNs. However, DCNs normally deploy multitenant applications with a variety of DC traffic. It is hard to reconfigure the optical interconnections in real-time to provide adaptable bandwidth to the traffic with heterogeneous characteristics. Moreover, to improve the bandwidth utilization, statistical multiplexing is generally deployed in optical DCNs to forward the traffic flow in a time slot, which requires the network time to be precisely synchronized to all network nodes. For fast optical switches with a nanosecond switching configuration time, overall end node times must be synchronized at subnanosecond magnitude. In this paper, we propose and experimentally investigate a reconfigurable and picosecond-synchronized optical DCN (ReSAW) based on an arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR) and the White Rabbit (WR) protocol. A scheduler based on a distributed field-programmable gate array is implemented in the proposed ReSAW to realize flexible wavelength configuration by controlling the fast laser array based on semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) according to time slot and traffic priority. Moreover, the WR protocol is implemented in optical DCNs for what we believe is the first time to synchronize the time of the distributed top of racks (ToRs). The experimental demonstration validates that ReSAW achieves an average end-to-end latency of 317.44 ns and a precise synchronized time with an average 386 ps skew. When the load is 0.4, the packet loss after ReSAW reconfiguration is less than 1.83 × 10 − 6 , and the network latency is less than 1.73 µs. Based on the experimental parameters and results, the OMNeT++ simulation model is built to further verify the reconfigurability and scalability of the ReSAW network. Results show that the packet loss rate and latency performance increase 8.24% and 12.47%, respectively, at a load of 0.6 as the ReSAW network scales from 2560 to 40,960 servers compared to before the reconfiguration.

Collision-free distributed MAC protocol for passive optical intra-rack data center networks

In this paper, we present a distributed medium access control (MAC) protocol and a network architecture suitable for optical intra-rack data center networks (DCNs). The intra-rack communication is performed using passive optical components, over four data wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) channels of either 40 or 100 Gbps each, keeping low power consumption. On the other hand, the inter-rack communication is performed over a separate network through upper layer routers. In this study, we focus only on the intra-rack communication. We introduce an intra-rack DCN (IR-DCN) architecture that works in the optical domain, and two IR-DCN configurations with different total nominal capacity: 160 and 400 Gbps, respectively. Also, we propose a synchronous pre-transmission coordination fair access intra-rack MAC (intra-MAC) protocol taking into account the traffic characteristics and priority classes within existing DCNs. The proposed intra-MAC protocol totally eliminates packet collisions, achieving high performance. Particularly, it reaches high bandwidth utilization even under heavy loads: 90% and 87.5% for the two IR-DCN configurations of 160 and 400 Gbps total capacity, respectively. Also, it achieves low mean end-to-end (e2e) packet delay, lower than 0.25 and 0.12 ms, respectively, providing a reliable solution for time-sensitive DCN traffic. Specifically, simulation results demonstrate that the highest priority traffic experiences e2e delay lower than 1.9 and 1.1 µs, respectively, which is sufficient for the service of the strictest delay requirements of time-sensitive cloud applications. The intra-MAC protocol is decentralized, without the need for a network controller, providing high flexibility. Our IR-DCN proposal is studied in comparison to other currently dominant intra-rack/cluster DCNs, and it achieves from 6% to 57% higher throughput and from 20% to 99% lower e2e delay at high loads. Comparatively, it is on average 80% and 68% more energy and cost efficient, respectively.

Traffic generation for benchmarking data centre networks

Benchmarking is commonly used in research fields, such as computer architecture design and machine learning, as a powerful paradigm for rigorously assessing, comparing, and developing novel technologies. However, the data centre network (DCN) community lacks a standard open-access and reproducible traffic generation framework for benchmark workload generation. Driving factors behind this include the proprietary nature of traffic traces, the limited detail and quantity of open-access network-level data sets, the high cost of real world experimentation, and the poor reproducibility and fidelity of synthetically generated traffic. This is curtailing the community's understanding of existing systems and hindering the ability with which novel technologies, such as optical DCNs, can be developed, compared, and tested.We present TrafPy; an open-access framework for generating both realistic and custom DCN traffic traces. TrafPy is compatible with any simulation, emulation, or experimentation environment, and can be used for standardised benchmarking and for investigating the properties and limitations of network systems such as schedulers, switches, routers, and resource managers. We give an overview of the TrafPy traffic generation framework, and provide a brief demonstration of its efficacy through an investigation into the sensitivity of some canonical scheduling algorithms to varying traffic trace characteristics in the context of optical DCNs. TrafPy is open-sourced via GitHub and all data associated with this manuscript via RDR.

Virtual Optical Network Mapping Approaches in Space-Division-Multiplexing Elastic Optical Data Center Networks

This paper addresses the problems of mapping virtual optical networks (VONs) onto space-division-multiplexing elastic optical data center networks (SDM-EODCNs). We first propose the concepts of link importance degree (LID) and node importance degree (NID) and put forward the calculation formula to optimize the VONs mapping, by which VON mapping approaches are developed. For comparison, we introduce a random (RAN) VON mapping approach that can provide benchmark performance. Simulation results show that the proposed LID VON mapping approach can yield solutions closest to the optimal ones obtained via an ILP model. On the other hand, compared to the NID and RAN VON mapping approaches, the LID VON mapping approach not only effectively improves the network profit by reducing the total network cost, but also solidly increases the number of VONs mapping.

RGAIA: a reconfigurable AWGR based optical data center network.

Benefitting from the cost-effective and flexible interconnection between computing nodes and storing infrastructures, various applications and services are deployed in data centers (DCs). These traffic-boosting applications put tremendous pressures on current electrically switched DC networks (DCNs) which suffer the bandwidth bottleneck. Benefitting from the data-rate and format transparency, the optically switched DCN with intrinsic high-bandwidth characteristics is a promising solution to update the hierarchical electrical DCNs with bandwidth limitations. Moreover, the applications deployed in DCNs with mixed traffic characteristics require dynamic quality of service (QoS) provisioning. Optical DCNs thus need to be designed in a flexible topology with the capability of bandwidth reconfigurability to adapt the variety of the traffic. In this paper, we propose and experimentally investigate a reconfigurable optical packet switching DCN named RGAIA, based on flexible top of racks (ToRs) and fast optical switch, where the optical switch is implemented by tunable transceiver combing with arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR). Under the management of the designed software defined network (SDN) control plane, RGAIA can dynamically distribute the wavelength resource and then reconfigure the bandwidth in real-time based on the monitored traffic characteristics. Experimental assessments validate RGAIA improving performance of 37% and 66% in latency and packet loss, respectively, compared with the network with rigid interconnections at the traffic load of 0.8.

Dynamic Distributed Multi-Path Aided Load Balancing for Optical Data Center Networks

Benefiting from dense connections in data center networks (DCNs), load balancing algorithms are capable of steering traffic into multiple paths for the sake of preventing traffic congestion. However, given each path’s time-varying and asymmetrical traffic state, this may also lead to worse congestion when some paths are overutilised. Especially in the two-tier hybrid optical/electrical DCNs (Hoe-DCNs), the port contentions and large-grained optical packets of the fast optical switch (FOS) require the top-of-rack (TOR) switch to have microsecond-level load balancing capability for microburst traffic. This paper establishes a leaf-spine Hoe-DCN model to illustrate the principal characteristic of dynamic load balancing in TOR switches for the first time. Moreover, we propose the dynamic distributed multi-path (DDMP) load balancing algorithm that relies on dynamic hashing computing for network flow distribution in DCNs, which dynamically adjusts traffic flow distribution at microsecond level according to the inverse ratio of the buffer occupancy. The simulation results show that our proposed algorithm reduces the TOR-to-TOR latency by 15.88% and decreases the packet loss by 22.06% compared to conventional algorithms under regular load conditions, which effectively improves the overall performance of the Hoe-DCNs. Moreover, our proposed algorithm prevents more than 90% packet loss under low load conditions.

HFOS$$_L$$: hyper scale fast optical switch-based data center network with L-level sub-network

HFOS$$_L$$: hyper scale fast optical switch-based data center network with L-level sub-network

A novel strategy to enhance the quality of service (QoS) for data center traffic in elastic optical networks

Abstract Elastic optical networks (EONs) offer tremendous benefits to deal with the exponential increase of the data center traffic. The granularity offered in spectrum allocation supports efficient management of available bandwidth and accommodates multiple traffic to be routed through common links. However, this brings the inherent challenges of routing and spectrum allocation (RSA) constraints. This becomes more complex for elastic optical data center networks (EODCNs), wherein multiple requests arrive at the same time, requiring identical or different bandwidths and each request may have the same or different destination and paths. Also, data requested by different users could be of varying importance levels. Under such a scenario, maintaining the quality of service (QoS) by minimizing the probability of traffic failure and bandwidth blocking is a major task for service providers. To address these problems, we propose an enhanced methodology using path prediction and link-state analysis for efficient allocation of frequency slots and reuse of bandwidth for data centers connected through EONs. Our proposed strategy intents to minimize the number of blocked requests due to non-availability of resources and reduce the failure probability. We introduce here the concept of connectivity degree and Kuhn-Munkres multi-objective optimization for spectrum allocation. We also evaluate the call request blocking probability varying the number of data centers and traffic load. The obtained results show that the proposed algorithm is highly effective in reducing the traffic failure and blocking probability for EODCNs.

Neural network-assisted decision-making for adaptive routing strategy in optical datacenter networks

To improve the blocking probability (BP) performance and enhance the resource utilization, a correct decision of routing strategy which is most adaptable to the network configuration and traffic dynamics is essential for adaptive routing in optical datacenter networks (DCNs). A neural network (NN)-assisted decision-making scheme is proposed to find the optimal routing strategy in optical DCNs by predicting the BP performance for various candidate routing strategies. The features of an optical DCN architecture (i.e., the rack number N, connection degree D, spectral slot number S and optical transceiver number M) and the traffic pattern (i.e., the ratio of requests of various capacities R, and the load of arriving request) are used as the input to the NN to estimate the optimal routing strategy. A case of two-strategy decision in the transparent optical multi-hop interconnected DCN is studied. Three metrics are defined for performance evaluation, which include (a) the ratio of the load range with wrong decision over the whole load range of interest (i.e., decision error E), (b) the maximum BP loss (BPL) and (c) the resource utilization loss (UL) caused by the wrong decision. Numerical results show that the ratio of error-free cases over tested cases always surpasses 83% and the average values of E, BPL and UL are less than 3.0%, 4.0% and 1.2%, respectively, which implies the high accuracy of the proposed scheme. The results validate the feasibility of the proposed scheme which facilitates the autonomous implementation of adaptive routing in optical DCNs.

Spectrum-Sharing-Maximized Approaches With Shared-Path Protection in Elastic Optical Data Center Networks

The spectrum efficiency is a greatly important issue when we establish connection requests in elastic optical data center networks (EODCNs). In this article, we address the spectrum efficiency problems of the shared-path protection with spectrum-sharing-maximized approaches for the optical network survivability. Two integer linear program (ILP) models, i.e., flow-based and path-based ILP models, named FB-ILP and PB-ILP, are developed to minimize the frequency slots (FSs) occupied with the spectrum-sharing-maximized protection, and two heuristic approaches with the spectrum-sharing-maximized protection (HA-SSMP) and with the general spectrum-sharing protection (HA-GSSP) are also proposed to improve spectrum efficiency in EODCNs. For comparison, we introduce a heuristic approach with the existing shared-path protection (HA-ESPP) in EODCNs. On the one hand, simulation results show that FB-ILP can minimize the number of FSs occupied, but leads to the higher average number of hops and longer running time compared to PB-ILP, HA-SSMP, HA-GSSP, and HA-ESPP in static traffic scenario in EODCNs. On the other hand, the simulation results of our proposed HA-SSMP are very close to the solutions of FB-ILP. In dynamic traffic scenario, simulation results show that HA-SSMP significantly improves the spectrum efficiency and effectively suppresses the blocking probability, but leads to the higher average number of hops compared to HA-GSSP and HA-ESPP in EODCNs.

Series Editorial: Optical Communications and Networks

In the first issue of the Optical Communications and Networks Series in 2022, we have selected three articles that present recent advances in optical communications and networking. These advances and innovations are aimed at realizing higher-speed communication in various applications. More specifically, the three contributions selected demonstrate advances in passive optical networks (PONs), hybrid visible light communication (VLC) and radio frequency (RF) systems, and optical data center networks (DCNs) enabled by synergistic switch control.

Synergistic Switch Control Enabled Optical Data Center Networks

Optical switching, which benefits from high bandwidth and low latency, promises to revolutionize data center networks that suffer from a bandwidth bottleneck and hierarchical structure. However, the lack of adaptable and fast optical switch control schemes, the lack of optical buffers for contention resolution, and the high cost of clock and data recovery (CDR) impede the practical deployment of optical switches in data centers. Networking communities have tried to address these challenges from different perspectives. However, the proposed solutions may be interdependent and thus introduce unexpected issues. In this article, a synergistic optical switch control mechanism is proposed to simultaneously solve the aforementioned challenges. The developed label control technique allows for controlling and configuring packet switching within 43.4 ns. The implementation of clock distribution achieves a fast CDR of 3.1 ns at low cost, and the design of an optical flow control protocol prevents packet loss caused by packet contention.

Coflow scheduling and placement for packet-switched optical datacenter networks

Coflow scheduling and placement for packet-switched optical datacenter networks

Efficient Virtual Network Embedding of Cloud-Based Data Center Networks into Optical Networks

The demand for data center bandwidth has exploded due to the continuous development of cloud computing, causing the use of network resources close to saturation. Optical network has become an encouraging technology for many burgeoning networks and parallel/distributed computing applications because of its huge bandwidth. This article focuses on efficient embedding of data centers into optical networks, which aims to reduce complexity of the network topology by using the parallel transmission characteristics of optical fiber. We first present a novel virtual network embedding (VNE) mathematical model used for optical data center networks. Then we derive a priority of location VNE algorithm according to node proximity sensing and path comprehensive evaluation. Furthermore, we propose routing and wavelength assignment for DCNs into optical networks, and identify the lower bound of the required number of wavelengths. Extensive evaluations show that the proposed embedding algorithm can reduce the average waiting time of virtual network requests by 20 percent, increase the request acceptance rate and revenue-overhead ratio by 13 percent, as compared to the latest VNE algorithm.

Automatically reconfigurable optical data center network with dynamic bandwidth allocation

The rapid increasing traffic in data centers (DCs) puts tremendous pressure to the present multi-tier network architectures and electrical switching techniques. Switching traffic in the optical domain featuring ultra-high bandwidth, therefore, has been intensively investigated to build the high capacity data center networks (DCNs). To handle the variable traffic pattern in DCs, the network reconfigurability with adaptable optical bandwidth allocation is of key importance to flexibly assign the optical bandwidth. To this end, we propose and experimentally evaluate a software-defined networking enabled reconfigurable optical DCN with dynamic bandwidth allocation in this work, based on novel optical top of racks exploiting a wavelength selective switch. Experimental assessments show that the proposed solution can automatically reallocate the optical bandwidth in real-time to adapt the dynamic traffic pattern. Compared with the conventional optical DCN with static bandwidth provision, the end-to-end latency performance of the reconfigurable scheme with adaptable bandwidth allocation improves of 58.3% and the average packet loss decreases one order of magnitude. Moreover, the reconfigurable optical DCN features deterministic latency performance, with much lower time variations of packets delivery completion. Based on the experimental parameters, the simulation platform is also built to validate the good scalability of the proposed reconfigurable DCN. Numerical results illustrate the negligible performance degradation (11%) as the network scales from 2560 to 40 960 servers.

Preservation of shared backup path ink‐node content based elastic optical datacenter networks

AbstractEfficient path selection and content availability in the optical datacenter networks are essential for business continuity. To measure quantitatively the connectivity of content and give protection to diverse type of contents, the idea ofk‐node content connectivity is becoming popular. However, the assignment of dedicated spectrum for each end‐to‐end content path consumes too many resources. In order to enhance the resource efficiency, the spectrum can be shared between end‐to‐content paths of various requests. The spectrum sharing minimizes the backup spectrum requirement and has been a topic of research. In this study, an innovative model, namely, end‐to‐end content connectivity based quasi‐bipartite graphs (E‐QBG) for the possible path prediction and maximum matching by Hungarian path prediction (MM‐HPP) are implemented for the spectrum efficiency and the disaster resilient datacenter networks. The objective is to minimize the entire backup spectrum resource and operations path. The quasi‐bipartite graph is used for the end‐to‐end content backup route evaluation including spectrum sharing on various links, while the Hungarian algorithm is utilized for accurate maximum matching prediction between various end‐to‐end route sets. We introduce the concept of maximum dissortativity path based on the weight factor. The proposed E‐QBG and MM‐HPP reduces spectrum consumption which guarantees survivability against multi‐failure and natural disasters. This method leads to an approach for more effective utilization of the resources for end‐to‐end content connected elastic optical datacenter networks as compared with the existing techniques.

Cost-adaptive multi-class multicast service aggregation based on distributed sub-trees in elastic optical data center networks

Multicast provisioning is important for supporting applications such as data backup and cloud computing in elastic optical data center networks (EODCNs). As the traffic demand from these applications is quickly increasing, it is important to reduce the resource usage and implement cost-effective multicasting. By mapping multiple traffic flows into a single light-tree, the light-tree-based multicast service aggregation can reduce the number of required transceivers while accommodating many multicast requests. However, it may increase the spectrum usage, and it is not always feasible because some subscription-based or secure multicast services in the network should be sent only to authorized users. In this paper, we focus on the problem of routing, modulation level selection, spectrum, and transceiver assignment for multicast services with different security levels. We study potential performance gains resulting from applying a distributed sub-tree scheme to multi-class multicast service aggregation, realizing reduced overall cost. By formulating the mathematical models using an integer linear program (ILP), we obtain results for a small-scale network. We also propose a heuristic algorithm for large-scale networks, and results show that our proposed algorithm can be beneficial in terms of both spectrum and transceiver utilization in EODCNs.

Feasibility Study of Optical Wireless Technology in Data Center Network

We investigate the scalability and performance of a novel optical wireless data center network (OW-DCN) based on passive diffractive optics and fast tunable transmitters. The proposed OW-DCN architecture consists of two parallel inter- and intra- cluster networks to implement a flat communication between the top of racks within the DCN with at most two hops. The proposed DCN operation, the transmission performance and the scalability have been experimentally demonstrated and assessed for different modulation formats (NRZ-OOK and PAM4) with different sizes of DCN. A DCN with 8×8 racks shows 20Gbit/s OOK error free transmission with a power penalty of only 1dB compared to the B2B performance. For a 16×16 racks DCN, experiment indicates 16Gbit/s PAM4 transmission at FEC-limit of BER <; 2×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> . Moreover, scalability investigations of the proposed DCN architecture with optimized passive optics indicate that a 32×32 racks DCN with spectral band around 1 nm per link is feasible.