A simulation based approach for network resources dimensioning in video delivery systems

The availability of high-performance networking technologies and processing power allows creation of new multimedia services and applications in broad band integrated services networks. Such new services will be successful onl y if delivered to end-users at low cost. At present, for wide-area distribu ted systems, communication has a relevant impact on the overall costs. As a consequence, adequate methodologies for an efficient dimensioning of the n etwork resources need to be devised. Simulation techniques represent a powe rful instrument for the analysis and evaluation of real systems. This paper , moving from the definition of mathematical models for VBR video sources, presents the application of a simulation approach to verify the compatibili ty of the communication load related to a set of video streams with the dat a transport capability of an existing network architecture for the delivery of video streams, in the case of CBR communication links.