Flow-Based Routing Tested by NTT Labs, Univ. of Tokyo and Univ. of Illinois

NTT Network Innovation Laboratories, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the University of Tokyo, has tested flow-based routing technology from Caspian Networks. In a workshop hosted by the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), NTT showed its MaXimal Queuing (MXQ) algorithm to leading network academics, and demonstrated its effectiveness at preventing congestion in highly-utilized networks.


EVL's TeraVision was used to send three high-resolution video streams to a super-high-definition tiled display, while an Access Grid distributed video conferencing system also ran over the MXQ-enabled network. Attendees, some of whom participated via the Access Grid, were shown the signal degradation inherent in times of network congestion using conventional IP/MPLS routers, then the elimination of this congestion with new flow-based Caspian Apeiro routers incorporating NTT's MXQ algorithm.


In flow-based networking, packets are routed as whole flows, i.e. streams of related packets, rather than as individual packets as in current IP/MPLS networks. The unique level of data obtained in flow-based routing, such as flow length, rate, delay variation and other parameters, enable a number of new network benefits.



The demonstrations were part of the ON*VECTOR Advanced Networking Workshop, hosted at UIC/EVL, which focused on new flow-based networking techniques to improve QoS and enable better service models for IP-based telecommunications. Workshop participants included attendees from UIC, NTT Laboratories, NTT America, NTT Communications, the University of Tokyo, Caspian Networks, Northwestern University, and Argonne National Laboratory. Further work in this area is underway. http://www.caspian.com