A novel method for QoS provisioning with protection in GMPLS networks

In this paper, a new optimal policy is introduced to determine, adapt, and protect the Generalized MultiProtocol Label Switching (GMPLS) network topology based on the current traffic load. The Integrated Traffic Engineering (ITE) paradigm provides mechanisms for dynamic addition of physical capacity to optical networks. In the absence of such mechanisms, the rejection of incoming requests may be higher. The objective of the proposed policy is to use ITE to set up virtual tunnels at the MPLS and optical level and protect them against failures. This objective is achieved by minimizing the costs involving bandwidth, switching and signaling. The proposed policy is a computationally nonintensive greedy heuristic with good performance. The new policy operates at two levels: the MPLS network level and the optical network level. Numerical results are presented which show the effectiveness of the policy and the achieved performance. q 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.