A HEURISTIC METHOD FOR DESIGNING COMPUTER NETWORK TOPOLOGIES

Since the implementation of the first computer networks, a great atten tion has been given to their topological design, because of the financ ial aspects of their dimensioning and operating. The high number of po ssible topological configurations, the discrete character of the link capacity options available in the marketplace, the non-linearity of th e cost functions associated with the network topologies, constitute th e main factors which make complex this design problem. As a result, on ly heuristic methods carl lead with a reasonable computing effort, to good feasible solutions, but not necessarily optimal. This paper propo ses a heuristic method for generating in an economical manner network topologies which satisfy some reliability and quality; of service cons traints. The implementation of the method has been submitted to a sequ ence of tests which confirm its robustness and its efficiency accordin g to the quality of solutions provided.