An analytical model for the performance of buffered multicast banyan networks

Banyan networks have been used for the interconnection of processors in sca lable parallel computers and have been proposed for use in ATM high-speed c ommunications networks. This article addresses the performance issues of su pporting multicast communication in banyan networks. Multicast is the abili ty to transmit information from a single source node to multiple selected d estination nodes in a network. Current trends in networking applications in dicate that there will be an increasing demand in future networks for multi cast communication. Previous work on the performance of banyan networks has been primarily for the networks which can support only unicast communicati on. In this article, we present an analytical model for the performance of buffered banyan networks which support multicast communication. Our model i ndicates that the throughput of a multicast banyan network is generally hig her than that of a unicast banyan network. We also discuss the effect of ne twork design parameters such as buffer length and switch size on network pe rformance. Our results, expressed in terms of throughput, packet transfer t ime and packet loss probability, outline the performance of buffered multic ast banyan networks. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.