Tilman WolfDwaraki, Abhishek2024-04-262011-03-1120110510.7275/1869456https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/47506Optical packet switching networks are the foundation for next generation high speed Internet and are fast becoming the norm rather than an option. When such high speed optical networks are taken into account, one of the key considerations is packet buffering. The importance of packet buffering plays an even bigger role in optical networks because of the physical and technological constraints on the buffer sizes that can be implemented. Existing protocols, in many real world scenarios do not perform well in such networks. To eliminate such scenarios where there is a high possibility of packet loss, we use packet pacing. The proposed pacing scheme aims to reduce or eliminate packet losses arising from packet bursts in small-buffer networks. This thesis deals with a proposed hardware design and implementation of the packet pacing system on a NetFPGA. Our results show that the packet pacer can be implemented with a low overhead on hardware resources.small-buffersoptical networkspacingnetfpgaDigital Communications and Networkingthesis