Combining forward error correction and network coding in bufferless networks: A case study for optical packet switching

Bufferless network operation is favorable in many application domains such as industrial networks, on-chip networks and optical packet switching (OPS). The main challenge with zero buffers is the avoidance or handling of contention; indeed, many domain-specific contention resolution techniques have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we propose a generic combined forward error correction (FEC) and network coding (NC) scheme, which mitigates the negative impact of contentions at the network layer. Specifically, we present a case study for OPS utilizing FEC at the ingress node and NC at an intermediary optical packet switch to reduce packet loss due to contention. Our analysis shows that if used in a smart way, our mechanism can reduce decoding error and packet loss with multiple orders of magnitude while adhering to buffering limitations and meeting delay requirements. We believe that such a combined coding scheme has the potential to be utilized both in OPS (data center and core networks) and other networks where (near-)zero buffers are required.