Benefits of class-based priority queuing with lower real time utilisation threshold on optical burst switching to overcome effects of self-similarity

Considering that optical networking is still in early stages of its evolution, optical burst switching (OBS) is identified as the most feasible data forwarding mechanism for the next- generation optical-Internet that could be realized using currently available optical technology. OBS forwards data in a form of a burst of packets; bursts are assembled, and later disassembled, in the electrical domain in order to overcome the problem of non availability of optical memory, currently. The purpose of this paper is to access the adverse effects of queueing dynamics in the electrical domain, in the presence of self similar IP traffic, on optical burst switching. We also present class-based (aggregated) priority queueing, using a lower utilization threshold for real time traffic, as means of minimizing the adverse performance effects on real time traffic of the optical-Internet. We measure the performance gains, on the aggregated real time class, purely as a delay metric by not using a policing mechanism, such as a token bucket, at the entrance to the network. Put differently, the positives of using an adequately lower real time traffic utilization threshold as the only control on bursty traffic, in the electrical domain, are carried to the optical domain as well, resulting better end-to-end quality of service (QoS).