Parallel switch system with QoS guarantee for real-time traffic

This paper studies the load-balancing algorithm and quality of service (QoS) control mechanism in a 320Gb/s switch system, which incorporates four packet-level parallel switch planes. Eight priorities for both unicast and multicast traffic are implemented, and the highest priority with strict QoS guarantee is designed for real-time traffic. Through performance analysis under multi-priority burst traffic, we demonstrate that the load-balancing algorithm is efficient, and the switch system not only provides excellent performance to real-time traffic, but also efficiently allocates bandwidth among other traffic of lower priorities. As a result, this parallel switch system is more scalable towards next generation core routers with QoS guarantee, as well as ensures in-order delivery of IP packets.