Scheduling packet transmissions in a multi-hop packet switched network based on message length

This paper describes two algorithms for scheduling packets in a multi-hop network. The objective of the algorithms is to reduce end-to-end message (not packet) transmission delays. Both algorithms schedule packet transmissions based on the length of the original message that the packet belongs to. The first algorithm is preemptive and is based on the shortest-message-first principle and the second is based on the shortest-remaining-transmit-time principle. We develop simulation models for analyzing the algorithms. The simulations show that when message sizes vary widely, these algorithms can significantly reduce average end-to-end message delays compared to first-come-first-serve scheduling.