Clean-Slate Design of Next-Generation Optical Access

TL;DR

This paper presents a new framework and virtual test bed for objectively comparing next-generation optical access architectures based on QoE and statistical analysis, aiding future research.

Contribution

It introduces a novel comparison framework and a virtual test bed to evaluate NGOA architectures systematically and objectively.

Findings

Developed a comparison framework based on QoE and hypothesis testing.

Implemented a virtual test bed capturing physical to application layer aspects.

Provides tools for systematic evaluation of optical access designs.

Abstract

We report the current status of our research on the clean-slate design of next-generation optical access (NGOA). We have been studying candidate architectures with a major focus on their elasticity to user demands, energy efficiency, and support of better Quality of Experience (QoE). One of the major challenges in this study is to establish a comparative analysis framework where we can assess the performances of candidate architectures in an objective and quantifiable way. In this paper we describe our efforts to meet this challenge: (1) the development of a new comparison framework based on integrated QoE and statistical hypothesis testing and (2) the implementation of a virtual test bed capturing important aspects from physical layer to application layer to end-user behaviour governing traffic generation. The comparison framework and the virtual test bed will provide researchers a sound basis and useful tools for comparative analysis in the clean-slate design of NGOA.