Performance of alternative media for LAN interconnection

Abstract

The profusion of LANs and the substantial increase in LAN traffic volume have created a demand for LAN interconnection that facilitates the move towards B-ISDN. This is an important step towards the realization of a "global communications network". In this paper, we study the performance of an interconnection scenario where servers, workstations, and LANs are interconnected by an interconnecting medium. ATM switching technology is an attractive candidate for the interconnecting medium because high-speed switches can be built at relatively low cost. A competing technology is DQDB, which is the IEEE 802.6 standard for Metropolitan Area Networks. A model is developed to study the performance differences of ATM switches and DQDB when used as interconnecting media. Simulation results for different network configurations and traffic scenarios are presented.<>