Shortcut Switching Strategy in Metro Ethernet networks
Computer Communications
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IEEE STP is a layer-2 protocol which provides a loop-free connectivity across various network nodes. STP does this task by reducing the topology of a switched network to a tree topology where redundant ports are blocked. This action ensures there is a unique path from any node to every other node. Blocked ports are then kept in a standby mode of operation until a network failure occurs. In STP, there isn’t any traffic engineering mechanism for load balancing. This results in uneven load distribution and bottlenecks especially close to the Root. In this paper, we propose a novel switching strategy that uses blocked ports to forward frames in some special and restricted cases. This decreases the average traffic volume on links and switches specially close to the Root, improves load balancing on links and switches and reduces the average number of switching hops.