Linear random code-based label encoding scheme for label swapping free optical packet switching networks

Optical Label Switching (OLS) has been considered to be a promising approach to realize optical packet switching (OPS) networks. In an OLS router, the header processing module retrieves the routing information carried in the optical header and then replaces the old header with a new one through optical label swapping. The cost-effectiveness and the speed of performing label swapping are two major concerns. Due to lack of optical random access memory, optical label swapping has become a big challenging issue in implementing OLS switches. To overcome these difficulties, in this paper, we propose two Linear Random Code (LRC)-based label encoding schemes to achieve label swapping free OPS networks. Using the proposed schemes, a small sized label is needed. Only simple modulo-2 multiplication and modulo-2 addition operations are required to decode an optical label and there is no optical label swapping during packets traverse along the entire routing path. In our system, each source–destination pair is assigned multiple paths so the network is with traffic engineering and fault tolerance capabilities. We have carried out extensive simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. Compared with the well-known KIS encoding scheme, the proposed LRC-based scheme can reduce the label size significantly. An 8-byte LRC label is long enough to support all node pair with five paths in a 300-node network.