Adaptive router bypass using feedback adjusted OTN

With continued growth in Internet traffic, traditional IP routers struggle to keep pace with bandwidth demand. Router bypass, in which portions of traffic bypass transit routers through lower layer transport capacity, has been studied as one method to address this challenge by improving network efficiency. But while various studies have shown that router bypass may offer significant advantages in network performance, partitioning bypass capacity results in a reduction in statistical multiplexing. This remains as one of the main obstacles facing widespread implementation of bypassing techniques. Features recently introduced in the G.709 Optical Transport Network (OTN) specification [1], including direct support for packet (i.e. Generic Framing Procedure) and the Hitless Adjustment (HAO), pave the way for a more dynamic transport layer. In this study, we have developed an adaptive router bypassing technique that uses adjustable OTN channels driven by traffic behavior. By monitoring queues for both channels (bypass and non-bypass), the system will adjust bandwidth allocation for both channels to optimize network performance. These dynamic adaptations reduce the negative impact of router bypass on statistical multiplexing. An OMNET++ simulation is presented that demonstrates that the rate of dropped packets can be lowered by 66% and queuing time by 11% compared with conventional router bypass.