MULTICOMMODITY FLOW MODELS, FAILURE PROPAGATION, AND RELIABLE LOSS NETWORK DESIGN

Multicommodity flow (MF) models are well known and have been widely us ed in the design of packet-switched networks. They have also been used as approximations in the design of circuit-switched networks with rel iability constraints. In this paper, we investigate the usefulness of multicommodity models both as routing models and as an integral part o f design models conceived under the failure propagation strategy. Firs t, we compare the performance measures calculated by the models with r esults produced by a real-time technique. Next, we study the performan ce of networks dimensioned with flow models and with !mown adaptive mo dels under failures of transmission facilities when a real-time routin g technique is used, Results obtained using realistic data show that t he MF models compare favorably with exact dimensioning algorithms when failures are considered.