Throughput and delay analysis of the IBM rainbow WDM protocol

Abstract

This project deals with the IBM rainbow WDM protocol. It analyzes its throughput and delay performance. The Rainbow which is proposed by IBM is a model of optical metropolitan area network (MAN). It utilizes wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) over a fiber-optic, employing a passive-star network topology, where a laser is provided by each station. This laser is fixed tuned to a particular distinctive wavelength. Each station is also equipped with a tunable filter to all wavelengths; the Fabry-Perot filter. This project employs the equilibrium point analysis (EPA) procedure to offer a model and study the IBM rainbow. The throughput of the system is studied using several system parameters as message arrival rate, message lengths, and timeout duration. Then, the relation between the throughput and the system delay is examined. The simulation proves that an optimal throughput is obtained at certain timeout duration.