TCP over OLS networks: Real-time TCP management scheme for QoS provision

Optical label switching (OLS) has been proposed as a promising technology for providing resource provisioning and quality of service (QoS) support. Since TCP is (and may remain) the most popular protocol in the Internet, TCP implementation became a major issue in OLS network engineering. To take full advantage of OLS networks and integrate some TCP functions in the optical domain, the implementation of TCP over OLS is addressed to provide QoS control, resources provisioning and, finer granularity analysis. In this paper, we introduce a novel technique for packet retransmission based on the real-time management of TCP parameters, network resources, and traffic requirements. The technique handles activities such as signaling, switching, and contention resolution. Our approach is scalable packet retransmission and is based on buffering technique and contention resolution. It also provides a formal model to support QoS provision. Finally, simulation activity is performed in order to validate the proposed approach.