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Main Authors: Lei, Yiming, Li, Jialong, Liu, Zhengqing, Joshi, Raj, Xia, Yiting
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.17012
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author Lei, Yiming
Li, Jialong
Liu, Zhengqing
Joshi, Raj
Xia, Yiting
author_facet Lei, Yiming
Li, Jialong
Liu, Zhengqing
Joshi, Raj
Xia, Yiting
contents Optical data center networks (DCNs) are renovating the infrastructure design for the cloud in the post Moore's law era. The fact that optical DCNs rely on optical circuits of microsecond-scale durations makes nanosecond-precision time synchronization essential for the correct functioning of routing on the network fabric. However, current studies on optical DCNs neglect the fundamental need for accurate time synchronization. In this paper, we bridge the gap by developing Nanosecond Optical Synchronization (NOS), the first nanosecond-precision synchronization solution for optical DCNs general to various optical hardware. NOS builds clock propagation trees on top of the dynamically reconfigured circuits in optical DCNs, allowing switches to seek better sync parents throughout time. It predicts drifts in the tree-building process, which enables minimization of sync errors. We also tailor today's sync protocols to the needs of optical DCNs, including reducing the number of sync messages to fit into short circuit durations and correcting timestamp errors for higher sync accuracy. Our implementation on programmable switches shows 28ns sync accuracy in a 192-ToR setting.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_17012
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nanosecond Precision Time Synchronization for Optical Data Center Networks
Lei, Yiming
Li, Jialong
Liu, Zhengqing
Joshi, Raj
Xia, Yiting
Networking and Internet Architecture
Optical data center networks (DCNs) are renovating the infrastructure design for the cloud in the post Moore's law era. The fact that optical DCNs rely on optical circuits of microsecond-scale durations makes nanosecond-precision time synchronization essential for the correct functioning of routing on the network fabric. However, current studies on optical DCNs neglect the fundamental need for accurate time synchronization. In this paper, we bridge the gap by developing Nanosecond Optical Synchronization (NOS), the first nanosecond-precision synchronization solution for optical DCNs general to various optical hardware. NOS builds clock propagation trees on top of the dynamically reconfigured circuits in optical DCNs, allowing switches to seek better sync parents throughout time. It predicts drifts in the tree-building process, which enables minimization of sync errors. We also tailor today's sync protocols to the needs of optical DCNs, including reducing the number of sync messages to fit into short circuit durations and correcting timestamp errors for higher sync accuracy. Our implementation on programmable switches shows 28ns sync accuracy in a 192-ToR setting.
title Nanosecond Precision Time Synchronization for Optical Data Center Networks
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.17012