A slotted MAC protocol for efficient bandwidth utilization in WDM metropolitan access ring networks

The paper proposes an original wavelength-division multiplexing slotted-ring network architecture with nodes that use one fixed transmitter and fixed receivers. It is shown, through theoretical predictions and simulation results, how a simple slotted medium access control protocol can be implemented to achieve fairness between access nodes and efficient bandwidth utilization when used in a metropolitan access network. Performance for both source and destination stripping schemes has been analytically derived and simulated with a realistic self-similar traffic model. A modified node architecture using a tunable receiver has also been considered and the impact of receiver collisions has been evaluated and analyzed. Finally, the effect of using unbalanced traffic sources has also been analyzed and simulated.