Designing an optimal scheduler buffer in OBS networks

In this paper, we dimension a buffer in which headers are enqueued before processing in an optical burst switching (OBS) network. For the first time, we develop and analyze a unified OBS model comprising a set of homogeneous and independent edge buffers that feed bursts to a standalone link and their headers to a scheduler. Packets arrive at each edge buffer and are assembled into bursts, after which they are transmitted on a wavelength channel if their corresponding headers are successfully processed. In a case study, we demonstrate numerically that an optimal scheduler buffer size may exist and depends on the number of packets comprising a burst and the size of an edge buffer. We also show that packet blocking probability can be minimized using a simple rule of thumb for determining the optimal size of a scheduler buffer and the number of packets comprising a burst. All our analytical results are validated by way of simulation.