Transputer link reconfiguration: switching networks for 4-valent graphs

DWDM networks make use of optical switching networks that allow light waves of multiple lengths to be serviced and provide the possibility of converting them appropriately. Research work on optical switching networks focuses on two main areas of interest: new non-blocking structures for optical switching networks and finding traffic characteristics of switching networks of the structures that are already well known. In practical design of switching nodes in optical networks, in many cases, the Clos switching networks are successfully used. Clos switching networks are also used in Elastic Optical Networks that can effectively manage allocation of resources to individual multi-service traffic streams. The research outcomes presented in this article deal with the problems of finding traffic characteristics in blocking optical switching networks with known structures. This article aims at presenting an analysis of the influence of traffic management threshold mechanisms on the traffic characteristics of multi-service blocking Clos switching networks that are used in the nodes of elastic optical networks as well as their influence on the traffic efficiency of network nodes. The analysis was carried out on the basis of research studies performed in a specially dedicated purpose-made simulation environment. The article presents a description of the simulation environment used in the experiments. The study was focused on the influence of the threshold mechanism, which is one of the most commonly used and elastic traffic management mechanisms, and on the traffic characteristics of switching networks that service different mixtures of multi-service Erlang, Engset and Pascal traffic streams. The conducted study validates the operational effectiveness and practicality of the application of the threshold mechanism to model traffic characteristics of nodes in an elastic optical network.

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The Optical Signal-to-Crosstalk Ratio for the MBA(N, e, g) Switching Fabric †

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21041534 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 1534

Author(s):

Remigiusz Rajewski

Keyword(s):

Optical Switching ◽

Essential Feature ◽

Optical Signal ◽

Point Of View ◽

Signal Quality ◽

Switching Networks ◽

Optical Elements ◽

Optical Signals ◽

Switching Fabric

The banyan-type switching networks, well known in switching theory and called the logdN switching fabrics, are composed of symmetrical switching elements of size d×d. In turn, the modified baseline architecture, called the MBA(N,e,g), is only partially built from symmetrical optical switching elements, and it is constructed mostly from asymmetrical optical switching elements. Recently, it was shown that the MBA(N,e,g) structure requires a lower number of passive as well as active optical elements than the banyan-type switching fabric of the same capacity and functionality, which makes it an attractive solution. However, the optical signal-to-crosstalk ratio for the MBA(N,e,g) was not investigated before. Therefore, in this paper, the optical signal-to-crosstalk ratio in the MBA(N,e,g) was determined. Such crosstalk influences the output signal’s quality. Thus, if such crosstalk is lower, the signal quality is better. The switching fabric proposed in the author’s previous work has lower optical signal losses than a typical Beneš and banyan-type switching networks of this same capacity and functionality, which gives better quality of transmitted optical signals at the switching node’s output. The investigated MBA(N,e,g) architecture also contains one stage fewer than banyan-type network of the same capacity, which is an essential feature from the optical switching point of view.

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