Performance analysis of an ISDN switch with distributed architecture: circuit switched calls

Abstract

We have developed an approximate analytic model and a detailed simulation model to study the performance of an ISDN switch with distributed architecture. The analytic model treats the switch as a network of single server and infinite server queues with nonpreemptive priority service, general service times and batch arrivals. The simulation program is written in a distributed and modular way so as to simplify model development and debugging. Also extensive statistical techniques are employed for simulation output validation. It is observed that the analytic and the simulation models are in close agreement for the mean end-to-end delay and in moderately close agreement for the 95th percentile points of the end-to-end delay distribution. The comparisons between the analytic and the simulation models lead us to conjecture that the analytic model would be even more accurate for bigger systems with several hundred processors (where simulation models are too expensive to run). Even though the model assumes Poisson external call arrival process, it is shown that it may be applied with reasonable accuracy even when external call arrivals are non-Poisson. This is due to the fact that the composite message arrival process at a processor or transmission element tends to be close to Poisson even when the external call arrivals are non-Poisson.