Flow-based packet-mode load-balancing for parallel packet switches

Parallel Packet Switch (PPS) is broadly used in designing large-capacity switching fabrics, since it resolves the bottlenecks of scheduling algorithm, memory bandwidth, and serial transmission technology simultaneously. Current packet-based load-balancing algorithms for PPS cannot preserve intra-flow packet orders without costly reordering mechanisms. In this paper, we study the feasibility of flow-based packet-mode load-balancing algorithm, which thoroughly avoids packet out-of-order. Through performance analysis based on traffic model from real-trace, we show that given moderate speedups, all the three proposed flow-based algorithms can provide throughput and delay guarantees under admissible traffic input. Trace-driven simulations are carried out to verify our results.