Abstract | We propose and evaluate fast reservation (FR)
protocols for Optical Burst Switched (OBS) networks. The
proposed reservation schemes aim at reducing the end-to-end
delay of a data burst, by sending the Burst Header Packet (BHP)
in the core network before the burst assembly is completed at the
ingress node. We use linear prediction filters to estimate the
expected length of the burst and the time needed for the
burstification process to complete. A BHP packet carrying these
estimates is sent before burst completion, in order to reserve
bandwidth at each intermediate node for the time interval the
burst is expected to pass from that node. Reducing the total time
needed for a packet to be transported over an OBS network is
important, especially for real-time applications. Reserving
bandwidth only for the time interval it is actual going to be used
by a burst is important for network utilization efficiency. In the
simulations conducted we evaluate the proposed extensions and
prove their usefulness. |