Dual auction (and recourse) opportunistic protocol for light-trail network design

A light-trail is a generalization of a lightpath such that multiple nodes can take part in communication along the path. Light-trail based networks lead to dynamic provisioning and optical multicasting while deploying a pragmatic low-cost platform. Dynamic connections can be setup and torn down over semi-permanent light-trails facilitating bandwidth-on-demand and optical multicasting. We introduce a protocol that enables efficient dynamic provisioning and fairness within light-trails. The protocol is based on a modification of the auction algorithm. We apply this protocol to bandwidth allocation within a light-trail as well as to the task of growth and reduction of the virtual topology of light-trails. The article presents an analysis of this protocol and its functioning. We extensively simulate this protocol. A new performance metric for light-trail networks called the opportunistic ratio (OR) is defined. The OR also enables computation of fairness in light-trail networks.