Energy-Aware Forwarding Strategy for Metro Ethernet Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces an energy-aware forwarding strategy for Metro Ethernet networks that significantly reduces energy consumption by selectively turning off links while maintaining network performance, especially effective at medium and high traffic loads.

Contribution

It proposes a novel modification of the EAR algorithm to optimize link activation for energy efficiency in Metro Ethernet networks.

Findings

Achieves 60% energy savings at medium load

Achieves 40% energy savings at high load

Maintains network performance despite energy savings

Abstract

Energy optimization has become a crucial issue in the realm of ICT. This paper addresses the problem of energy consumption in a Metro Ethernet network. Ethernet technology deployments have been increasing tremendously because of their simplicity and low cost. However, much research remains to be conducted to address energy efficiency in Ethernet networks. In this paper, we propose a novel Energy Aware Forwarding Strategy for Metro Ethernet networks based on a modification of the Internet Energy Aware Routing (EAR) algorithm. Our contribution identifies the set of links to turn off and maintain links with minimum energy impact on the active state. Our proposed algorithm could be a superior choice for use in networks with low saturation, as it involves a tradeoff between maintaining good network performance and minimizing the active links in the network. Performance evaluation shows that, at medium load traffic, energy savings of 60% can be achieved. At high loads, energy savings of 40% can be achieved without affecting the network performance.