This paper presents a comparative study of contention-resolution schemes based on wavelength, time, and space domains in an unslotted optical packet-switched network with a large irregular mesh topology consisted of 15 nodes. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we investigated the effect of selective deflection and limited wavelength conversion. Features and performances of different combinational schemes are listed and compared. While simulation results show the effectiveness of wavelength conversion for resolving contentions over optical buffering and space deflection, physical explanations of the different effectiveness in resolving contentions of these schemes are also discussed.

We demonstrate that WDM mesh networks consisting of hybrid hierarchical switches (with alloptical waveband switching and OEO trafilc grooming) can significantly reduce cost over conventional OEO networks. We also present heuristics to design such networks.

The current fast-growing Internet traffic is demanding more and more network capacity every day. The concept of wavelength-division multiplexing has provided us an opportunity to multiply networ k capacity. Current o ptic al switching technologies allow us to rapidly deliver the enormous bandwidth of WDM networks. Photonic packet switching offers high-speed, data rate/format transparency, and configurability, which are some of the important characteristics ne eded in fu ture network s suppor ting different forms of data. In this article we present some of the critical issues involved in designing and implementing all-optical packet-switched networks.

This paper presents a comprehensive study of contention-resolution schemes in a multi-wavelength optical packet-switched network. This investigation aims to provide a unified study of a network of optical routers, which include contention resolution in wavelength, time, and space dimensions. Specifically, we show (1) how to accommodate all three dimensions of contention resolution in an integrated optical router, (2) how the performance of the three dimensions compare with one another, and (3) how various combinational schemes can be architected and how they perform. With the representative architectures and network topologies studied in this paper, the simulation experiment results capture the characteristics of different contention-resolution schemes, and they quantify the upper-bound average offered transmitter load for these schemes. The combinational contention resolution schemes are shown to effectively resolve packet contention and achieve good network performance under light to intermediate load.