An adaptive service differentiation algorithm for optical packet switched networks

The paper presents a novel adaptive service differentiation algorithm for optical packet switched (OPS) networks. Previous research has aimed at presenting algorithms that achieve service differentiation in OPS networks by utilizing the wavelength domain. However, simulations show that these algorithms result in fluctuating packet loss rate as the system load is varied. The adaptive algorithm proposed here measures the packet loss rate for high priority traffic over a time interval and adjusts the number of wavelength converters reserved for high priority traffic accordingly in order to achieve a constant packet loss rate. However, due to the self-similarity of Internet traffic, special considerations must be taken into account in order to avoid oscillations in the number of wavelength converters reserved for high priority traffic.