Throughput‐based fair bandwidth allocation in OBS networks

Fair bandwidth allocation (FBA) has been studied in optical burst switching (OBS) networks, with the main idea being to map the max‐min fairness in traditional IP networks to the fair‐loss probability in OBS networks. This approach has proven to be fair in terms of the bandwidth allocation for differential connections, but the use of the ErlangB formula to calculate the theoretical loss probability has made this approach applicable only to Poisson flows. Furthermore, it is necessary to have a reasonable fairness measure to evaluate FBA models. This article proposes an approach involving throughput‐based‐FBA, called TFBA, and recommends a new fairness measure that is based on the ratio of the actual throughput to the allocated bandwidth. An analytical model for the performance of the output link with TFBA is also proposed.