Method and arrangement for an improved buffer solution within a communication network switch
First Claim
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1. An optical switch for use in an asynchronous, wavelength-division-multiplexing, fiber-optic communication network, wherein the optical switch comprises:
- at least one fiber-optic input;
at least one fiber-optic output; and
a buffer unit comprising a plurality of queues,wherein the optical switch is arranged to;
receive data packets at the fiber-optic input;
assign a received data packet, having an associated destination, to one of the queues;
determine the number of vacant output wavelengths for the destination; and
schedule the data packet from the queue only when at least a minimum number, greater than one, of output wavelengths for the destination are vacant.
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Abstract
In asynchronous optical packet switches, scheduling packets from a buffer randomly will cause less efficient utilization of the buffer. Additionally, reordering of packets may cause problems for service quality demanding applications. According to the present invention a new electronic buffer scheduling algorithm is proposed and a switch utilizing this algorithm is disclosed. The algorithm is designed for utilizing the buffer resources efficiently, still avoiding serious packet reordering.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An optical switch for use in an asynchronous, wavelength-division-multiplexing, fiber-optic communication network, wherein the optical switch comprises:
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at least one fiber-optic input; at least one fiber-optic output; and a buffer unit comprising a plurality of queues, wherein the optical switch is arranged to; receive data packets at the fiber-optic input; assign a received data packet, having an associated destination, to one of the queues; determine the number of vacant output wavelengths for the destination; and schedule the data packet from the queue only when at least a minimum number, greater than one, of output wavelengths for the destination are vacant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of switching data in an asynchronous, wavelength-division-multiplexing, fiber-optic communication network, comprising:
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receiving data packets at a fiber-optic input of an optical switch; assigning a received data packet, having an associated destination, to one of a plurality of queues in a buffer unit; determining the number of vacant output wavelengths from the optical switch for the destination; and scheduling the data packet from the queue only when at least a minimum number, greater than one, of output wavelengths for the destination are vacant. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification