Buffer sharing in conflict-free WDMA networks

A wavelength division multiaccess network with buffer sharing among stations is studied. All stations in the network are connected to a passive optical star coupler and each station has a different fixed wavelength laser for transmitting packets. Each station in the network reports its packet backlog to a scheduler which computes and then broadcasts a transmission schedule to all the stations through a control channel in each time slot. A transmission schedule includes two types of assignments: (1) to assign a maximum number of stations for conflict-free transmissions, and (2) to assign to relocation of packets from congested stations to uncongested relaying stations through idling transceivers for distributed buffer sharing. The major benefit is the reduction of packet loss due to buffer overflow. Results show that as much as 75% of the buffers can be saved with buffer sharing