On the Issues in Implementing the Peer Model in Integrated Optical Networks

This paper contributes to a much-needed understanding of the operation, design, implementation, and evaluation of the peer model in integrated optical networks. The overlay and peer models of operation form the two fundamental architectural alternatives for interworking the control planes of optical TDM/WDM networks with those of packet or cell-based networks. Of these, the overlay model is well understood, having a precedence in IP-over-ATM networks deployed in the mid 1990s. It follows a proven approach to managing multi-area, multi-domain networks. The peer model, on the other hand, has not been implemented yet, and has also not been analyzed adequately in the literature. To enable service providers to implement either model, based on the respective merits of each, it is fundamentally important to develop a working solution for the peer model. The focus of this paper is to provide such a solution, perform a complexity analysis of the solution, and discuss its impact on the design of the protocols and the packet and transport layer devices that must interwork to realize this model.