Adaptive Offset for OBS networks using Feedback Control Techniques

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) has been developed as an efficient switching technique for the next generation optical Internet. A critical issue in OBS is the burst loss which could occur due to contention and/or insufficient offset time. Burst Loss Ratio (BLR) is used as the main performance parameter in OBS networks. In this paper, we investigate the assignment of the offset time and its effect on the measured end to end (E2E) delay. A novel feedback control technique is proposed to adapt the offset time based on the network condition in terms of BLR. Simulations show that the feedback control is able to adjust the offset automatically and dynamically. Hence, it reduces both the BLR due to insufficient offset and the E2E delay.