A new performability model for queueing and FDL-related burst loss in optical switching nodes

Optical packet and burst switching have been proposed for networks because of the increased demand for capacity to transport traffic generated by various applications at present and in future. In optical packet switching networks the payload and the header of a packet are conveyed in the same channel, while burst switching networks allow the separate transportation of the payload and the header of bursts. In this paper we propose a queueing model for an optical node with a number of wavelengths and a buffer made from Fiber Delay Loops (FDL). We also apply negative customers in the queueing model in order to account for the loss of bursts due to the limitation related to the FDL (i.e. bursts can stay in a FDL buffer only for a limited period of time). Numerical results based on the analytical model are compared to the results obtained by simulation of optical burst switching nodes with the FDL buffer and input traffic using packet traces from the Internet Traffic Archive, which shows the accuracy of the proposed model. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.