Packet blocking performance of optical networks under contention resolution mechanisms

Optical packet switching (OPS) is a rapidly developing research field for the next-generation data transmission. Optical communication depends mainly on the enormous bandwidth of the optical fiber. With the widespread usage of the Internet, the use of wavelength division multiplexing in optical networks has the potential to fulfill enormous bandwidth demands. In OPS, data are transferred in the form of optical packets that can be directed between different nodes on the data links. When two or more packets with the same wavelength attempt to reach the same output fiber at the same time slot, contention occurs. Only one among the contending packets is transmitted directly to the output fiber, with others being discarded unless a contention resolution mechanism is implemented. This paper presents an optical network design, to avoid packet drop buffering considered at network nodes. Load balancing technique is considered to reduce the packet loss probability (PLP) at the contending node in the network. Results are compared with the recently published design, and it is found that the PLP is reduced with the techniques used in this paper.