A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF DOUBLY CONNECTED DIRECTED TOPOLOGIES FOR LANS AND MANS

This article provides an overview of doubly linked networks. We first classify the doubly linked network on the basis of the number of tuple s used to represent each node address in the network. Then, each subcl ass of network is further partitioned into loop or nonloop categories. Various routing algorithms are studied and grouped into static or ada ptive routing type, based on the number of paths between nodes used in the point-to-point message transmission. The useful protocols of the token ring and the register insertion ring and their relative advantag es are also described. Some issues, such as multiple destinations rout ing, graceful degradation on cluster faults, and network behavior unde r unbalanced traffic conditions, in a doubly linked network are still open. There seems to be a need for new protocols when optical fiber is used as the medium for message transmission, which necessitates high- quality and large bandwidth data transmission. (C) 1996 John Wiley & S ons, Inc.