ORION: a novel hybrid network concept: overspill routing in optical networks

As more and more packets needs to be handled in the network, wavelength switched optical networks reduce the number of packets that need to be handled. However, this results in inefficient wavelength usage. Furthermore, it can only cope with traffic variations on a larger time scale. On the other hand, optical packet/burst switching (OPS/OBS) can cope better with traffic variations, but there is the contention resolution problem and the large number of handled packets. Is it really necessary to make this choice between black and white, or is it possible for these two to meet in the (gray) middle? We propose a novel networking architecture, trying to find a working marriage between these two - overspill routing in optical networks (ORION) - a network that is basically wavelength switched, but traffic can spill over in a packet switched modus, which allows a way to cope better with variable traffic profiles.