EFFICIENT INTERCONNECTIONS FOR CASCADING MULTIPLE ATM SWITCHES

This study proposes efficient arrangements of multiple interconnected, or cascaded, switches in a high speed connection-oriented local area network environment such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). Given a number of station nodes attached to a set of switches, minimal hardwar e requirement (number of dedicated I/O port for inter-switch communica tions, or number of inter-switch links) as well as the interconnection topology which support the maximal aggregate network throughput are s ought. A network configuration based upon switch usage and station nod e distribution with superior performance, in terms of maximizing netwo rk throughput is analyzed. Lower bounds on the necessary minimal numbe r of inter-switch links, and maximal number of nonblocking station nod es are derived. Finally, in cases where less than the minimal amount o f hardware necessary to support the maximal aggregate network throughp ut is provided, blocking probabilities are derived.