Improving the energy efficiency of Internet Service Provider (ISP) backbone networks is an important objective for ISP operators. In these networks, the overall traffic load throughout the day can vary drastically, resulting in many backbone networks being highly overprovisioned during periods of lower traffic volume. In this paper, we propose a new Segment Routing (SR)-based optimization algorithm that aims at reducing the energy consumption of networks during such low-traffic periods. It uses the traffic steering capabilities of SR to remove traffic from as many links as possible to allow the respective hardware components to be switched off. Furthermore, it simultaneously ensures that solutions comply to additional operator requirements regarding the overall Maximum Link Utilization in the network. Based on data from a Tier-1 ISP and a public available dataset, we show that our approach allows for up to 70 % of the overall linecards to be switched off, corresponding to an around 56% reduction of the overall energy consumption of the network in times of low traffic demands.

翻译：提高互联网服务提供商（ISP）骨干网络的能效是运营商的重要目标。在这些网络中，全天流量负载可能剧烈变化，导致许多骨干网络在低流量时段高度过度配置。本文提出了一种基于分段路由（SR）的新型优化算法，旨在降低此类低流量期间的网络能耗。该算法利用SR的流量引导能力，将流量从尽可能多的链路上移除，从而使相关硬件组件得以关闭。此外，它同时确保解决方案满足运营商关于网络整体最大链路利用率的附加要求。基于一级ISP的数据和公开数据集，我们证明该方法可使多达70%的线路卡关闭，相当于在低流量需求时段将网络总体能耗降低约56%。