NeTS-NBD: Packet Spacing in Small-Buffer Networks

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As data communication has become increasingly important to our society, demands on the networking infrastructure have reached a point where it is desirable to implement an optical packet switching core. The prohibitive cost of large optical buffers has lead to many optical network designs with small buffers on routers. A major challenge in this context is to envision efficient operation scenarios that justify these small buffer networks. This project aims at developing an architecture that implements packet spacing on network links such that suitable statistical properties of network traffic can be ensured and small-buffer networks can be operated efficiently. The specific goals of this project are: (1) understanding of packet spacing and its network-wide impact, (2) development of a pacing node prototype, and (3) consideration of network-wide deployment. The packet spacing architecture developed in this project can help in promoting the broad deployment of optical packet switching technology.Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of this project includes three aspects. First, the research will further our understanding of the impact of packet spacing on the whole network (rather than being limited to a single buffer analysis). Second, the pacing architecture will help improve the efficiency of operation of optical core networks and thus improve the Internet as a whole. Third, the cross-disciplinary research covering queuing analysis, network measurements, system design, and prototype implementation and deployment sets up an agenda to address real-world network issues.Broader Impact: Guarantees on traffic statistics that a packet pacing architecture can provide are an essential step in the process to convince the Internet community, especially Internet service providers, to adopt and deploy optical networks. A wide-spread adoption of such networks in the U.S. could increase the availability of high-bandwidth data communication and improve wide-spread access to modern communication services and applications.