IFAISTOS: A Fair and Flexible Resource Allocation Policy for Next-Generation Passive Optical Networks

In modern, competitive, and dynamic access networks the underlying bandwidth distribution mechanism has to be capable of understanding user requirements, meeting stringent quality of service (QoS) demands, and satisfying a broad spectrum of user traffic dynamics. Undoubtedly, optical fiber is the dominant transmission medium enabling practical and cost-effective optical infrastructures in the last mile. Passive optical networks (PONs) represent one of the most promising player towards the fiber to the home (FTTH) vision allowing users to experience high quality, demanding multimedia services and applications. The 10-gigabit-capable passive optical network (XG-PON), one of the latest PON standard, incorporates a set of profound conditions a contemporary PON should ensure. Fairness provisioning constitutes one of the most critical features a PON should provide. However, ensuring fairness in an access network with numerous different users, requesting multiple traffic flows in any time, is not a straightforward task. In this work, we focus on the fairness issue by devising an adaptive, efficient, and fair dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) scheme called Insistent FAIr STrategy prOcesS (IFAISTOS). IFAISTOS investigates and maintains user traffic profiles. Overloaded users are carefully treated by gaining greater granting windows than other users; however bandwidth monopolization is prevented. Fairness is ensured for all users in terms of traffic load and average delay. A steering, adaptive mechanism records user traffic profiles by changing and defining bandwidth weights proportional to individual traffic needs. Extensive simulation results reveal the efficacy of the proposed DBA in terms of fairness and average packet delay.