Scheduling scheme using Look-ahead Buffer and Loop-back Buffer in Two-stage variable optical packet switch

Programmable variable delay lines have been developed, so as to delay packets in variable durations by combining several lengths of Fiber Delay Lines (FDLs) in optical packet switch. In practice, Two-stage variable optical packet switch with this programmable variable delay lines has been proposed. This switch has two buffers. The one is the programmable variable delay lines (Look-ahead Buffer). The other is the fixed FDLs that re-input a packet from the output to the input (Loop-back Buffer). The switch can foresee following packets and avoid contentions effectively by using two buffers. However, existing studies only focus on the Look-ahead Buffer. Intelligent usage of the Loop-back Buffer is actually out of concern. This paper proposes a sophisticated scheduling method in the Two-stage switch. The proposed method controls both the Look-ahead Buffer and the Loop-back Buffer cooperatively and improves the utilization of the switching process. The proposed method uses the Loop-back Buffer adaptively and distributes traffics in time and space domain. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated through extended simulation experiments and basic hardware design. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.