Q-Routing Using Multiple QoS Metrics in SDN

As Internet usage increases, new, smarter, networking methods are required to enhance or maintain Quality of Service (QoS). One method, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) offers many advantages by separating the Forwarding and Control Planes. However, heuristic routing algorithms employed by SDN, such as Shortest Path, are not always suited for QoS-based pathfinding. This paper introduces a new Q-Routing algorithm that separates training and pathfinding, utilising two network metrics - latency and bandwidth - instead of latency alone. Two versions of this algorithm are employed, a static and a dynamic version where additional re-training is undertaken to allow Q-Routing to adapt to changing network environments. Both are tested on different size mesh topologies. The results show that static and dynamic Q-Routing are faster at pathfinding compared to K-Shortest Path and on average, find equally good routes.