Distributed Scheduling Policies of Low Complexity for Networks of Input-Queued Switches

Scheduling algorithms for input-queued switches have been widely researched. It has been shown that various classes of scheduling algorithms guarantee the stability of single switches. However, recent research has demonstrated that most of these scheduling algorithms do not the guarantee stability for networks of switches. Most of the research that treats networks of switches proposes switching policies that require coordination among switches. The problem to find distributed scheduling policies that guarantee the stability of a network of switches has so far only been investigated for a policy based on a computationally very complex maximum weight matching algorithm. In this paper, we investigate a class of distributed scheduling algorithms of low complexity that are based on maximal weight matching algorithms. We prove the stability of networks of input-queued switches where each switch deploys any maximal weight matching algorithm of the defined class.