Performance Modeling for ATM Switches

Abstract

In general, the performance modeling for ATM switches is a difficult task mainly due to the fact that a switch consists of a large number of queues which interact with each other in a fairly complicated manner. In the case of exponential packet lengths, a general performance model can be developed based on the approach of a multi-class multi-server closed queueing network, where a unified formula for the maximum throughput can be derived under a variety of switch architectures. In the case of ATM cells (i.e. fixed length packets), however, the result can only be obtained in the asymptotic regime. The approach is based on a non-standard Lindley recursion and uses the fact that the input queues become decoupled as the switch size grows unboundedly large.