Deadline-based connection setup in wavelength-routed WDM networks Wissam Fawaz a, * , Iyad Ouaiss a , Ken Chen b , Harry Perros c a Lebanese American University (LAU), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Byblos, Lebanon b University of Paris, 13 – L2TI Lab, 99, Avenue Jean-Baptiste Clement, 93430 Villetaneuse, France c North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7534, United States article info Article history: Received 13 July 2009 Received in revised form 8 February 2010 Accepted 10 February 2010 Available online 14 February 2010 Responsible Editor: A. Popescu Keywords: Optical networks Connection setup management Earliest Deadline First scheduling Performance analysis abstract This article addresses the ubiquitous topic of quality of service (QoS) aware connection provisioning in wavelength-routed WDM optical networks. The impact of the connection setup time of an optical connection has not been adequately addressed in the open litera- ture. As such, this paper presents a novel approach that uses the optical connection setup time as a service differentiator during connection provisioning. The proposed approach uti- lizes the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) queueing algorithm to achieve deadline-based con- nection setup management with the deadline being the setup time requirement of an optical connection. The proposed EDF-based approach would allow the network operator to improve the QoS perceived by the end clients. Performance of this novel scheme is ana- lyzed by accurately calculating various parameters, such as the fraction of connections pro- visioned on-time (i.e. prior to deadline expiration) and the average time it takes to successfully setup a connection. In addition, the presented approach is validated by a sim- ulation that analyzes the performance of the proposed connection setup scheme in the spe- cific context of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET). The obtained results show that a deadline-based setup strategy can minimize blocking probability while achiev- ing QoS differentiation. Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is becoming the de facto technology for driving up the transmission capacity of optical networks and thus enabling optical oper- ators to keep up with the continuous growth of data traffic. WDM multiplexes many non-overlapping WDM channels onto the same optical fiber, where each of these channels can be operated at the peak rate of several gigabits per sec- ond. Optical fiber communication is therefore being firmly established as the preferred means of communications for the ever-emerging bandwidth consuming applications and services. However, the perpetual advent of new applica- tions, each having different QoS requirements, aggravated by the need to carry these applications over optical net- works, is proving to be the next big challenge for future WDM optical networks. This is especially true since existing optical networks still need to evolve from single service net- works to multi-service ones [1], in which different types of services with different QoS requirements can be supported. Hence, the main trend is leaning towards migrating from a plain optical network with static point-to-point connections to a new era of dynamic, wavelength-routed, all-optical WDM optical networks [2]. In a wavelength-routed WDM network, an Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) switches the optical signal on a WDM channel from an input fiber to an output fiber; thus a connection (lightpath) may be established from a source to a destination. In this regard, numerous research efforts [3–5] have contemplated equipping these networks with a multi-service capability making them provide predict- 1389-1286/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2010.02.008 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +961 9 547254/2414; fax: +961 9 57256. E-mail addresses: wissam.fawaz@lau.edu.lb (W. Fawaz), iyad.ouaiss @lau.edu.lb (I. Ouaiss), chen@galilee.univ-paris13.fr (K. Chen), hp@csc.ncsu.edu (H. Perros). Computer Networks 54 (2010) 1792–1804 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computer Networks journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comnet