Fault-tolerant BIBD networks

The use of multiple buses can improve both the fault tolerance and performance of local area computer networks. Existing schemes either depend on active components for full connectivity or can experience decreased performance as many hosts attempt to access one bus. An architecture class based on balanced incomplete block designs (BIBDs) is proposed to address these problems. A BIBD architecture uses redundant communication channels and exhibits degradable performance as faults occur. The performability of such networks is evaluated, where evaluation is based on stochastic activity network models. The results obtained are provided for comparison of BIBD network performability with that of conventional multibus networks.<>