ANALYSIS OF AN FDDI NETWORK SUPPORTING STATIONS WITH SINGLE-PACKET BUFFERS

We present exact analysis of a nonsymmetric multiple-priority token ri ng network with single packet buffers under a timed-token protocol, si milar to that employed for medium access control of the Fiber Distribu ted Data Interface (FDDI) network. The single-packet buffer model is e mployed for describing the queueing operation characterizing typical u ser terminals. An iterative procedure is used to compute the limiting state distribution of the embedded Markov chains representing the syst em state process, We obtain the distributions of the token rotation ti me, the normalized throughput, and the mean packet waiting time. By us ing a counting process representing the numbers of transmitted and def erred packets in a token rotation cycle, we present a simplified analy sis of a symmetric network containing a large number of stations. We i llustrate the application of the analytic approach through numerical e xamples representing FDDI network systems operating under various traf fic loading conditions.