Performance of multihop networks using optical buffering and deflection routing

Multihop networks such as the Manhattan Street Network (MSN) are strong contenders for implementing high-speed networks, ranging from back-plane networks for cluster computing to metropolitan-area networks. Optical buffering may be used to augment optical multihop networks, and to reduce or even eliminate the need for optical-electrical conversions. This paper evaluates the performance enhancements obtainable by augmenting traditional MSN with optical buffering, thus combining optical buffering and deflection routing for contention resolution. The network is based on a novel 6x6 optical switching node. A great improvement in performance over the traditional MSN is obtained for a large range of network parameters.