Home // International Journal On Advances in Networks and Services, volume 5, numbers 3 and 4, 2012 // View article
Authors:
Qimin Yang
Keywords: data vortex network; packet switched network; optical; network; buffering.
Abstract:
Optical switching fabric networks have become essential systems in high capacity communication and computing systems. This paper focuses on Data Vortex network architecture with two alternative implementations for improved performance. Either a buffer is added within the routing node or inter-cylinder paths are provided for enhanced routing performance. Since the extra hardware required for both implementations are the same, the network with better routing performance provides a better solution. A comparative study of the two methods is conducted with various load conditions and network redundancy. In addition to random traffic, performances under bursty traffic are also studied. The results have demonstrated that networks with inter-cylinder paths provide significantly lower latency and better throughput, and they are especially advantageous under bursty traffics. All results have shown that the approach with inter-cylinder paths provides more effective sharing of the routing resource within the network compared with the node buffering method. The difference in performance is also shown to be more dramatic under higher load conditions and for larger networks. Finally the comparison is also extended to a modified 4-ary Data Vortex network, where traffic backpressure increasingly becomes a limiting factor due to deflection. Under medium to low redundant conditions, a similar performance trend is observed as that in regular binary Data Vortex network, where the inter-cylinder path method offer significant improvement in latency over the buffer node implementation, even though the latter also offers good improvement over the buffer-less 4-ary network. A slight better performance in throughput is also shown in the inter-cylinder path method. In summary, we conclude that the inter-cylinder path enhancement provides a more attractive solution over the buffer based solution for various network operation conditions, especially promising for low redundant and high load conditions.
Pages: 258 to 268
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2012. Used with permission.
Publication date: December 31, 2012
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2644