An adaptive inter-domain PCE framework to improve resource utilization and reduce inter-domain signaling

Upcoming broadband commercial and scientific applications are now demanding high bandwidth pipes across multiple domains with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). Recent research initiatives such as the Path Computation Element (PCE) framework are focusing on the development of scalable multi-domain QoS provisioning frameworks, especially within the emerging carrier grade transport technologies based on layer-2 tunnels. QoS provisioning across multiple domains requires that QoS parameters for available transit paths inside a domain be advertised in the inter-domain routing algorithms, while the dynamic inter- and intra-domain connections vary the available resource, and hence require frequent inter-domain updates. The signaling load on the other hand hampers the scalability of the inter-domain routing mechanisms. We propose the use of an adaptive partitioning framework, which can effectively use network resources and at the same time stabilize the advertised domain topologies and thus path advertisements. Our method partitions network resources by pre-reserving resources for inter-domain transit traffic, and uses policies to modify the resource partitioning in order to maintain the available transit capacity between specified bounds. We show by simulations that the proposed mechanism can reduce inter-domain signaling load by 10%–20% and reduce overall blocking inside a domain by creating a trade-off between available resources for intra-domain connections and inter-domain transit connections. The reduction in inter-domain signaling and blocking can be used as a building block to design scalable QoS routing systems for carrier grade transport networks.