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.