Mathematical approach to designing switched LANs, an alternative solution to compute the loss probability in an heterogeneous traffic environment

With the integration of different multimedia services and the growing demand of bandwidth, local area networks (LAN) are becoming switched networks. A rigorous and systematic design of switched LAN topologies requires, among other issues, the determination of the capacity of the links connecting the switches to appropriately support the new services. This paper proposes an alternative mathematical methodology to compute the loss probability obtaining more accurate results than other approaches in the related literature. The different services are modeled using different classes of on-off sources and the capacity of the links have to guarantee a given information loss probability constraint.