Optical Hybrid Architecture and Network Control Strategies

Optical networking, with its almost unlimited bandwidth, is the only technology that can support communication of emerging applications with high demand for bandwidth such as remote visualization, collaborative e-science, pervasive computing and the grid etc. Optics and optical interconnects present some solutions that can potentially address the increasingly complex communication requirements for these multi-computer systems and network architectures. However, in order to adapt optics in future high performance computer systems and networks, switching functions will have to be migrated from electronics to optical domain. This paper addresses this problem, with emphasis on describing a framework under which an optical layer can be used to support hybrid circuit/packet-switching in the context of optimizing the network resource allocation considering bimodal traffic pattern network architecture, a dynamic and unpredictable network environment. A single wavelength optical header encoding and self-routing binary-encoded optical header address processing is adapted to routing mechanisms based on novel bimodal traffic partition threshold. This threshold is obtained by employing game theoretic methods for optical network control and pricing strategies. Game theoretic environments, with its many challenging algorithmic problems, present many research opportunities in the area of optical network control and network architectures of the future that will function well with selfish or non-cooperative users and applications in an inherently unpredictable and dynamic network, i.e. the Internet.