Optical burst switching: the network perspective

Abstract

This paper motivates the combination of optical burst switching (OBS) networks with wavelength-routed networks which provide a virtual topology. Opportunities for advanced network design, support for important future transport network scenarios, and resilience as well as capacity adaptation functionality are among its key benefits.The paper discusses principal trade-offs, both qualitatively and quantitatively, regarding virtual topologies and statistical multiplexing in order to derive guidelines for resource efficient topology design. Then, the OBTN architecture is described, which can efficiently transport burst data over a virtual topology of lightpaths and can reduce the port count of optical burst-switched nodes. Finally, the OBTN dimensioning process is outlined and results of a unified performance and cost comparison are presented.