Decentralized Traffic Control Using Agents in Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPON)

Abstract

Traditionally, allocating of Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) bandwidth schemes relied on a centralized architecture where their Optical Line Terminal (OLT) is the sole intelligent device with the capability for the arbitration of bandwidth based on time-division access for the upstream shared channel. However, any breakdown in the OLT bandwidth allocation will affect the allotment for Optical Network Units (ONUs). Few researches had dealt with a decentralized approach for the EPON and most of the solutions proposed involved additional cost by adding new complex devices to the original architecture. This paper proposes an intelligent decentralized mechanism in EPON that enhances the network performance using intelligent agents specification based on the IEEE 802.3 ah standards in the foundation for intelligent physical agent which is compatible with an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network. Specifically, this paper proposes a novel distributed scheme that supports differentiated services and ensures QoS for both Inter-and Intra- ONU allocation. The proposed mechanism introduces a unique direct communication between the ONUs supported by identical dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms running simultaneously in each ONU. In addition to being fully distributed, the proposed scheme is asynchronous, scalable, and dynamic with flexibility and reliability in handling data, voice and video.