A survey on all optical label swapping techniques: Comparison and trends

The rapid growth of packet based Internet traffic and big data, associated with interconnected Data Centers (DC) and High Performance Computing (HPC) systems have imposed the need for ultrahigh link capacities and ultrahigh packet switching speeds, at network nodes. In order to overcome these ultrahigh demands, and particularly packet routing and forwarding, All Optical Label Swapping (AOLS) has been considered for many years as an established solution. This survey paper gives an updated and thorough investigation on AOLS technology and trends, based on a vast reference amount of research milestones throughout all this long time era. All types of labeling techniques are presented and compared, and their pros and cons are summarized all together. Moreover, important issues and directions for research are discussed, giving researchers guidelines and motivation for extended investigation.