Modeling and analysis of a shared channel architecture for performance improvement in optical burst switched networks

Existing optical burst switching (OBS) architecture has assumed the separated transfer of burst header packets and data bursts. To deal with burst contention and blocking, various approaches have been proposed such as using deflection routing, fiber delay line buffering, wavelength conversion, and burst segmentation. In this paper we investigate a shared channel architecture that allows the transfer of both burst header packets and data bursts on the same wavelength channel with some modifications on the current OBS architecture. The new shared channel based OBS architecture is expected to have better flexibility in resource utilization and improved burst blocking performance. Based on the reduced load fixed point approximation, we provide an analytic model for burst blocking probability analysis under the proposed architecture which employs the just-enough-time signaling and fixed routing. The accuracy of the analytic model is validated via extensive simulation. Overall, our analysis and simulation show that the proposed architecture achieves a significantly lower burst blocking probability than the conventional architecture.