Synchronous reservation protocol for variable-sized messages in WDM networks

We propose a synchronous reservation protocol that is efficient for supporting variable-sized messages in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based local network using a passive star topology. A control channel is used to coordinate transmissions on data channels. Time is slotted with fixed-sized slots. The network can accommodate a variable number of nodes, and can operate independently of the change of the number of nodes. So, any "new" node can join the network anytime without network re-initialization. Moreover, with the protocol, we can avoid data channel and destination conflicts. We analyze the performance according to the variation of the end-to-end propagation delay with respect to one slot time, and validates the results by simulation.