<title>Traffic characteristics inside optical burst-switched networks</title>

Abstract

We present an accurate model for burst traffic characteristics inside optical burst switched networks. At the edges of such networks, a number of IP packets are collected before being injected into the core as a single unit. The sizes of these so-called bursts critically impact the performance of the various network elements, so that a good understanding of their characteristics is an essential step in network performance engineering. A further abstraction of this assembly process results in a straightforward simulation model that can eliminate the need for packet level simulation, and thus reduce model complexity and simulation cost.