All-optical distributed packet-switched networks: limitations and potential

It is shown that to take advantage of photonic switching in distributed packet-switched networks, a routing scheme suitable for optical implementation, e.g., the so-called hot-potato scheme, must be employed, and the optoelectronic bottleneck, associated with injecting packets onto and off of the network must be overcome. In hot-potato routing schemes, packets arriving at a node, but not destined for it, are immediately placed on an outgoing link. Since no buffering is required at the switching nodes, such routing algorithms are ideal for photonic switching. It is further shown that hot-potato routing is less efficient than store-and-forward routing, but when it is used in conjunction with time-compressed optical packets it provides a greater throughput.<>