A segmentation-based dropping scheme in OBS networks

Contention resolution is one of the most significant concerns in OBS networks. As an important contention resolution approach, segmentation can pass packets using as much as possible fragmented resources. Aiming at using bandwidth as efficiently as possible, we propose a new segmentation-base contention resolution scheme random dropping. When contention occurs, any part of a contending burst could be dropped, instead of only the head or tail of bursts. This dropping policy makes bandwidth utilization more efficient and flexible. Simulation results show that random dropping performs better than existing segmentation-based dropping schemes.