Loss-free communication in high-speed networks

We introduce two novel connection control protocols for high-speed networks, which we call the efficient reservation virtual circuit (or ERVC) protocol and the ready-to-go virtual circuit (or RGVC) protocol. Both protocols have been developed for the 40 Gbit/s fiber-optic ATM-based Thunder and Lightning network, currently being designed and built at UCSB. The ERVC protocol, which is designed for constant-rate, delay-insensitive sessions, uses reservations and requires little buffering at intermediate nodes, while the RGVC protocol, which is designed for variable-rate and delay-sensitive sessions, uses back-pressure to control the source transmission rate and requires buffering at intermediate nodes. In this paper, we present the main features of both protocols and indicate the advantages of each