Improving reliability in multi-layer networks with Network Coding Protection

A major concern among network providers is to endow their networks with the ability to withstand and recover from failures. In recent years, there is a trend in network research referred to as Network Coding Protection (NCP). NCP combines the use of network coding techniques with a proactive protection scheme with the aim of improving network reliability. Although today´s network backbone is a multi-layer network formed by the convergence of IP/MPLS and Optical technologies, the information available in the literature related to the performance of NCP schemes in multi-layer network scenarios is yet scarce. In this paper, we propose a novel NCP scheme referred to as DPNC+. The novelty of DPNC+ is that it exploits cross-layer information in order to improve the reliability of multi-layer (IP/MPLS over Optical) networks against link failures. Our evaluation results show that reduction up to 50% -related to protection cost- can be obtained when using the proposed scheme compared to conventional proactive protection techniques.