Performance implications of nodal degree for optical burst switching mesh networks using signaling protocols with one-way reservation schemes

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of nodal degree (meshing degree) in optical burst switching (OBS) mesh networks using signaling protocols with one-way reservation schemes. The analysis is focused on the following topologies: rings, degree-three chordal rings, degree-four chordal rings, degree-five chordal rings, mesh-torus, NSFNET, ARPANET and the European Optical Network. It is shown that when the nodal degree increases from 2 to around 3, the largest gain is observed for degree-three chordal rings (slightly less than three orders of magnitude) and the smallest gain is observed for the ARPANET (less than one order of magnitude). On the other hand, when the nodal degree increases from 2 to around 4, the largest gain is observed for degree-four chordal rings (with a gain between four and five orders of magnitude) and the smallest gain is observed for the European Optical Network (with a gain less than one order of magnitude). Since burst loss probability is a key issue in OBS networks, these results clearly show the importance of the way links are connected in this kind of networks. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.