QoS scheduler/shaper for optical coarse packet switching IP-over-WDM networks

For IP-over-WDM networks, optical coarse packet switching (OCPS) has been proposed to circumvent optical packet switching limitations by using in-band-controlled per-burst switching and advocating traffic control enforcement to achieve high bandwidth utilization and quality-of-service (QoS). In this paper, we first introduce the OCPS paradigm. Significantly, we present a QoS-enhanced traffic control scheme exerted during packet aggregation at ingress nodes, aiming at providing delay and loss class differentiations for OCPS networks. Serving a dual purpose, the scheme is called (ψ,τ)-Scheduler/Shaper, where ψ and τ are the maximum burst size and burst assembly time, respectively. To provide delay class differentiation, for IP packet flows designated with delay-associated weights, (ψ,τ)-Scheduler performs packet scheduling and assembly into bursts based on their weights and a virtual window of size ψ. The guaranteed delay bound for each delay class is quantified via the formal specification of a stepwise service curve. To provide loss class differentiation, (ψ,τ)-Shaper facilitates traffic shaping with larger burst sizes assigned to higher loss priority classes. To examine the shaping effect on loss performance, we analytically derive the departure process of (ψ,τ)-Shaper. The aggregate packet arrivals are modeled as a two-state Markov modulated Bernoulli process (MMBP) with batch arrivals. Analytical results delineate that (ψ,τ)-Shaper yields substantial reduction, proportional to the burst size, in the coefficient of variation of the burst interdeparture time. Furthermore, we conduct extensive simulations on a 24-node ARPANET network to draw packet loss comparisons between OCPS and just-enough-time (JET)-based OBS. Simulation results demonstrate that, through burst size adjustment, (ψ,τ)-Shaper effectively achieves differentiation of loss classes. Essentially, compared to JET-based OBS using out-of-band control and offset-time-based QoS strategy, OCPS is shown to achieve invariably superior packet loss probability for a high-priority class, facilitating better differentiation of loss traffic classes.