Cell delay variation (CDV) has been considered as an important performance measure due to the stringent timing requirement for video and multimedia services. In this paper we address the problem of CDV performance guarantee in virtual path (VP)-based ATM multiplexing. We propose a rate-based and non-work-conserving scheduling algorithm, called interleaved round robin (IRR), for serving traffic streams among VPs into the outgoing link. Through our performance analysis, the proposed scheme is capable of providing upper and lower bounds on the inter-visit time (IVT) for each VP, where the difference between the upper bound and the lower bound is simply dependent upon the number of multiplexed VPs. The distribution of VP IVT scheduled by an IRR server can also be well approximated using a random incidence technique. In addition to the VP-level CDV performance, we further examine the virtual connection (VC)-level CDV incurred within a multi-stage network through simulation study. The simulation results show that the IRR server can provide traffic regulation and smoothness at each network node. Moreover, the CDV distribution of a tagged VC is insensitive to the source traffic characteristic, node location, and the hop count traversed in the network.

In highly reliable communication network design, disjoint paths between pairs of nodes are often needed in the design phase. The problem of finding k paths which are as diverse as possible and have the lowest total cost is called a k-best paths problem. We propose an algorithm for finding the k-best paths connecting a pair of nodes in a graph G. Graph extension is used to transfer the k-best paths problem to a problem which deploits well-known maximum flow (MaxFlow) and minimum cost network flow (MCNF) algorithms. We prove the k-best paths solution of our algorithm to be an optimal one and the time complexity is the same as MCNF algorithm. Our computational experiences show that the proposed algorithm can solve k-best paths problem for a large network within reasonable computation time.

This paper proposes a framework for session-level SLA (Service Level Agreement) and network-level SLA management to provide QoS-oriented application services over DiffServ/MPLS networks. DiffServ and MPLS technologies enhance the capability of QoS guarantee on IP network, and application service provider can provide QoS-oriented application services to their customers based on the transport networks. The example of using our approaches in the VoIP service involving the network service provider, the VoIP service provider, and the VoIP customers are examined. The session-level SLA between VoIP service provider and VoIP customer and the network-level SLA (N-SLA) between network provider and VoIP service provider are constructed in this paper. Besides, the VoIP service provider faces the QoS-mapping issue and the balance between revenue and cost, i.e., how to contract the N-SLA. Therefore, we introduce an off-line SLA evaluation scheme, a heuristic optimization algorithm and an on-line SLA process method to provide VoIP service policy, and then the optimal QoS-mapping can be resolved. The concept of this framework of session-level SLA and network-level SLA management can be extended easily into other real-time multimedia and non-real time data services.

In this paper, we proposed a photonic packet switching control method by used optical correlator for optical packet label packet-switched networks for next Generation networks. The main advance is rely on using the Optical Code Division Multiplexing (OCDM) code to labeling optical packets based on source routing. Based on OCDM labeling either header modification or any label swapping techniques can be avoids. With advantage of existing OCDM coding called OCDM-labels schemes to encapsulate the packets, together with optical correlator to decode the label in optical domain, which can achieve optical packet switching without header modification/label swapping techniques. The O/E/O conversion procedure at each switching device can also be eliminated. This method not only simplifies the design of switch devices in the optical domain to simplify the packet forwarding process, but also speeds up packet forwarding and increases throughput significantly.

With the introduction of ATM technology, service providers around the world have actively engaged in offering high bandwidth services. Currently, services, such as T1/E1, T3/E3 circuit emulation, are made available to large-volume account users. However, more advanced services, such as multimedia applications, have demanded not just high bandwidth but also flexible rate adaptation with quality-of-service (QoS) guarantee. To support the above service requirements, sophisticated network planning and engineering procedures should be taken. In the past few years, we have conducted various researches on developing the engineering strategies for resource control and management to support multi-rate service offering. We have also looked into the design details of connection control and management for achieving the QoS requirement. We considered the service quality of the underlying transport in regard with the QoS management. In this paper, we will outline those results and give an overview description about the proposed framework.

In this paper, we consider the working VP and backup VP routing problems jointly and employ the integer programming based approach to maximize the system resource utilization and the network survivability. The VP planning problem is formulated as a nonlinear combinatorial optimization problem. The objective function minimizes the resource usage while maximizing the network survivability. By proper transformation of the objective function and applying cutting plane method, the original formulation is transformed into an integer linear programing formulation which is suitable for applying Lagrangian relaxation techniques. After Lagrangian relaxation, the problem is further decomposed into several tractable subproblems. Unlike others' work, the candidate path set does not need to be prepared in advance and the best paths are generated while solving subproblems in our approach. Heuristic algorithms based on the solving procedure of the Lagrangian relaxation are developed. Closely examining the gap between the heuristic upper bounds and the Lagrangian lower bounds reveals that the proposed algorithm can efficiently provide a nearly optimal solution for the survivable VP layout design in ATM networks.

In a shared buffer packet switch, a good buffer management scheme is needed to reduce the overall packet loss probability and improve the fairness between different users. In this paper, a novel buffer control scheme called partial sharing and partial partitioning (PSPP) is proposed. The PSPP is an adaptive scheme that can be dynamically adjusted to the changing traffic conditions while simple to implement. The key idea of the PSPP is that part of the buffer space, proportional to the number of inactive output ports, is reserved for sharing between inactive output ports. This portion of buffer is called PS buffer. The residual buffer space, called PP buffer, is partitioned and distributed to active output ports equally. From the analysis results, we only need to reserve a small amount of PS buffer space to get good performance for the entire system. Computer simulation shows the PSPP control is very robust and very close to the performance of pushout (PO) buffer management scheme which is a scheme considered as optimal in terms of fairness and total loss ratio while too complicated for implementation.