Realizing RotorNet: Toward Practical Microsecond Scale Optical Networking

William M. Mellette, Alex Forencich, Rukshani Athapathu, Alex C. Snoeren, George Papen, George Porter

Abstract: We describe our experience building and deploying a demand-oblivious optically-switched network based on the RotorNet and Opera architectures. We detail the design, manufacture, deployment, and end-to-end operation of a 128-port optical rotor switch along with supporting NIC hardware and host software. Using this prototype, we assess yield, synchronization, and interoperability with commodity hardware and software at a scale of practical relevance. We provide the first real-world measurements of Linux TCP throughput and host-to-host latency in an operational RotorNet, achieving 98% of link rate with 99th-percentile ping times faster than commodity packet-switching hardware. In the process, we uncover unexpected challenges with link-level dropouts and devise a novel and flexible way to address them. Our deployment experience demonstrates the feasibility of our implementation approach and identifies opportunities for future exploration.