Utilizing Optical Burst Switching Networks for the Internet Real-Time Traffic

The constant and rapid expansion of the Internet at such a high rate has caused its traffic to double every four to six months. A large portion of this traffic is known to be multimedia and real time traffic, which has strict requirements in term of bandwidth, delay, jitter, and loss rate. Recent studies showed that constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR) traffic can reduce both the transmission and storage costs for real time traffic. Other studies showed that optical burst switching (OBS) appears to be a promising switching technique for building the next-generation Internet infrastructure. In this paper, the compatibility between the requirements of CBR and VBR traffic and the services provided by the OBS networks are investigated. Initial finding shows that there is a need for quality of service (QoS) mechanisms to guarantee the CBR and VBR traffic characteristics and contract over OBS networks. This paper also discusses the issue of providing QoS over OBS network. The result of the study shows that the current QoS over OBS is insufficient for meeting the CBR and VBR traffic requirements if carried over the OBS networks. Nevertheless, it can be a motivation for further research.