Complexity/performance trade-off in optical packet switches

Optical burst switching and packet switching require the adoption of suitable contention resolution mechanisms at the optical nodes due to multiple packets/bursts attempting to access the shared output channel at the same time. Contentions can be solved by exploiting the space, wavelength and time domain. The many alternatives possible call for suitable scheduling policy aiming at an optimal system performance. This paper provides an assessment of the role of key parameters for an optical packet/burst contention resolution scheme and the resulting node cost estimation in terms of CAPEX, footprint and power consumption. Feasibility tradeoffs due to limited optical buffering and wavelength conversion capability are also taken into account.