IP resource sharing framework in a dual-mode ultraflow access network

In this paper, we propose an Internet Protocol (IP) resource-sharing framework (IRSF) for the UltraFlow access network that provides dual-mode service, i.e., optical IP and Flow, to the end-users. As part of IRSF, the service selector offloads a proportion of a Flow file to the underutilized IP channel, whenever such resource sharing improves Flow service delay. Simulation results indicate a maximum 25% decrease in Flow service delays achieved by IRSF in an UltraFlow access network with a single IP channel. The impact of Flow-over-IP (FoIP) transmission on regular IP traffic is found to be marginal. In the case that wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is enabled for IP service in the UltraFlow access network, a FoIP-aware wavelength assignment algorithm is proposed to improve the Flow service delay by 25% under heavy Flow traffic. The dependence of y, a parameter used by IRSF for performance tuning, on various traffic loads and UltraFlow system settings has been studied via extensive simulations. An automatic optimization algorithm is proposed to optimize y in the presence of time-varying IP traffic. The performance of IRSF has also been experimentally verified on our UltraFlow access testbed.