EIBT: Exclusive Intervals for Bulk Transfers on EPONs

The upstream transmission of bulk data files in Ethernet passive optical networks (EPONs) arises from a number of applications, such as data backup and multimedia file upload. Existing upstream transmission approaches lead to severe delays for conventional packet traffic when best effort file and packet traffic are mixed. We propose and evaluate an exclusive interval for bulk transfer (EIBT) transmission strategy that reserves an EIBT for file traffic in an EPON polling cycle. We optimize the duration of the EIBT to minimize a weighted sum of packet and file delays. Through mathematical delay analysis and verifying simulation, we demonstrate that the EIBT approach preserves small delays for packet traffic, while efficiently serving bulk data file transfers.