Next-generation high-speed Internet backbone networks will be required to support a broad range of emerging applications which may not only require significant bandwidth, but may also have strict quality of service (QoS) requirements. Furthermore, the traffic from such applications are expected to be highly bursty in nature. For such traffic, the allocation of static fixed-bandwidth circuits may lead to the over-provisioning of bandwidth resources in order to meet QoS requirements. Optical burst switching (OBS) is a promising new technique which attempts to address the problem of efficiently allocating resources for bursty traffic. In OBS, incoming data is assembled into bursts at the edges of the network, and when the burst is ready to be sent, resources in the network are reserved only for the duration of the burst. The reservation of resources is typically made by an out-of-band one-way control message which precedes the burst by some offset time. By reserving resources only for the duration of the burst, a greater degree of utilization may be achieved in the network. This book provides an overview of optical burst switching. Design and research issues involved in the development of OBS networks are discussed, and approaches to providing QoS in OBS networks are presented. Topics include: - Optical burst switching node and network architectures - Burst assembly - Signaling protocols - Contention resolution - Burst scheduling - Quality of service in OBS networks

Optical Switching Networks describes all the major switching paradigms developed for modern optical networks, discussing their operation, advantages, disadvantages and implementation. Following a review of the evolution of optical WDM networks, an overview of the future trends out. The latest developments in optical access, local, metropolitan, and wide area networks are covered, including detailed technical descriptions of generalized multiprotocol label switching, waveband switching, photonic slot routing, optical flow, burst and packet switching. The convergence of optical and wireless access networks is also discussed, as are the IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring and IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet passive optical network standards and their WDM upgraded derivatives. The feasibility, challenges and potential of next-generation optical networks are described in a survey of state-of-the-art optical networking testbeds. Animations showing how the key optical switching techniques work are available via the web, as are lecture slides (www.cambridge.org/9780521868006).

Next-generation high-speed Internet backbone networks will be required to support a broad range of emerging applications which may not only require significant bandwidth, but may also have strict quality of service (QoS) requirements. Furthermore, the traffic from such applications are expected to be highly bursty in nature. For such traffic, the allocation of static fixed-bandwidth circuits may lead to the over-provisioning of bandwidth resources in order to meet QoS requirements. Optical burst switching (OBS) is a promising new technique which attempts to address the problem of efficiently allocating resources for bursty traffic. In OBS, incoming data is assembled into bursts at the edges of the network, and when the burst is ready to be sent, resources in the network are reserved only for the duration of the burst. The reservation of resources is typically made by an out-of-band one-way control message which precedes the burst by some offset time. By reserving resources only for the duration of the burst, a greater degree of utilization may be achieved in the network. This book provides an overview of optical burst switching. Design and research issues involved in the development of OBS networks are discussed, and approaches to providing QoS in OBS networks are presented. Topics include: - Optical burst switching node and network architectures - Burst assembly - Signaling protocols - Contention resolution - Burst scheduling - Quality of service in OBS networks

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) offers a promising switching technique to support huge bandwidth requirements in optical backbone networks that use Wavelength Division Multiplexing. This book details the quality of service (QoS) issue in OBS networks. It examines the basic mechanisms to improve overall QoS in OBS networks as well as discusses the relative QoS differentiation among multiple service classes in OBS networks. Coverage also details absolute QoS provisioning in OBS networks, end-to-end QoS provisioning in OBS networks, and some non-mainstream research issues and future research directions in OBS networks.

Applications of optical switching in network elements and communication networks are discussed in considerable depth. Optical circuits, packet, and burst switching are all included. Composed of distinct self-contained chapters with minimum overlaps and independent references. Provides up-to-date comprehensive coverage of optical switching, technologies, devices, systems and networks. Discusses applications of optical switching in network elements and communications networks.

This book presents the state of the art results on modeling and analysis of OBS networks. It provides researchers with new directions for future research and helps them gain a better understanding of modeling OBS networks. This book classifies all the literature on modeling and analysis of OBS networks and serves as a thought provoking material for the researchers working on the analysis of high-speed networks. The scope of this book however is not limited to OBS networks alone but extends to high-speed communication networks with limited or no buffers.

This book provides a broad overview of IP over WDM technologies, as seen by a group of experts participating in the e-Photon/ONeC and BONE Networks of Excellence funded within the VIth and VIIth Research Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7) of the European Union. Both Networks of Excellence are aimed at the integration of research teams active on optical networks at a pan-European level, with the creation of virtual centers of excellence in optical networks, te- nologies, and services. The working groups on optical core networks gathered about a 100 researchers from more than 20 universities and research institutions in Europe. The multifaceted viewpoints available in this community on the current state and future evolution of large WDM networking infrastructures are reported in this book. The book is organized in chapters, with chapter editors, listed on pp–, having the responsibility to collect and harmonize contributions by different - search groups. The whole work was made possible by the coordination efforts of Javier Aracil and Franco Callegati, leaders, at the time when the book writing was begun, of the working groups on optical core networks and on optical burst swit- ing in e-Photon/ONeC. We are thankful to them for their efforts. We hope that this manuscript will serve as a valuable reference for students and practitioners in the ?eld of optical networking.