Using TCP congestion control to improve the performances of optical burst switched networks

Abstract

We propose using a modified TCP decoupling approach as a congestion control mechanism for optical burst switched networks. The TCP decoupling approach [1] is a novel way that can apply TCP congestion control to any traffic flow (which can be an aggregate) in a network. Since this approach is generic, it has found applications in several areas [2, 3]. In the optical burst switching (OBS) area, because the basic mechanism of the TCP decoupling approach matches the mechanism of the OBS very well, we propose using a modified TCP decoupling approach to congestion-control the traffic load offered to an OBS switch and regulate the timing of sending bursts. Our simulation results show that this approach enables an OBS switch to achieve a high link utilization while maintaining a very low packet (burst) drop rate.