Improvement of burst transmission delay using offset time for burst assembly in optical burt switching

We propose a novel algorithm for reducing burst transmission delay and packet loss rate. In optical burst switching (OBS), a certain offset time and burst assembly period are needed, leading to transmission delay. In order to reduce the delay, the proposed method transmits a control packet before the burst assembly period expires. Due to this mechanism, a method is needed to estimate burst length. To estimate burst length, the proposed method adopts the Jacobson/Karels algorithm used in TCP. Moreover, to reduce the estimation error, the proposed method uses a head-dropping algorithm for the burst collision procedure. We evaluate packet delay, packet loss rate and estimation error rate by simulation experiments. The simulation results show that the proposed method has a lower packet loss rate and delay than the conventional method and burst estimation error can be neglected.