CRI: IAD : Reconfigurable Optical Burst Switching Research Testbed Acquisition and Development

University Of Houston, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

The principle goal of this proposal is to build a reconfigurable Optical Burst Switching (OBS) testbed that integrates the world's first commercial optical burst switch with a reconfigurable control plane. The insights and experiences obtained from the testbed will be of great value in developing the OBS network into a commercially viable solution for the next generation Internet. The key aspects of the proposed testbed are summarized as W4: What is the proposed testbed ? An OBS testbed utilizing commercially available EtherBurst Optical switches and FPGA based reconfigurable control plane. Who can benefit from the proposed testbed ? The testbed will benefit the PI, as well as the OBS research community by allowing remote users to run real experiments using a remote laboratory interface. It also encourages students and industrial participation. Why an OBS testbed is in need ? Theoretical and simulation based analysis cannot fully capture the characteristics of real traffic, which has non-negligible impact on the performance of the OBS network. In addition, simulation will not address the practical implementation issues in building ultra high speed OBS routers. When can the proposed testbed be in operation ?The testbed can be in operation after initial configuration. Dynamically reconfigurable control plane is deployed incrementally over a working system. The proposed testbed will enable research projects that are not feasible otherwise. In addition, the proposed testbed can be potentially made available to OBS research community worldwide through a Remote Laboratory Interface (RLI) developed through the NSF funded Open Network Laboratory (ONL) project.