Performance evaluation of communication networks based on FSM specifications of protocols

Abstract

This paper considers the simulation method for the performance evaluation based on the formally described protocol specifications. Here, the simulation using the FSM model is outlined first, and a model called unitary token model, which is derived by simplifying the FSM model, is proposed. The configuration of an experimental system is presented which reads in such a model and executes the simulation. Then the data transfer by four layers, i.e., the transport and the lower layers in OSI model, is considered and an example is shown where the simulation actually is executed for evaluation. From the viewpoint of the method of analysis, the model for the individual process in this paper is the general FSM model, but the waiting due to the sharing of the CPU and the channel among processes is considered as a part of the computation in the simulation. By this elaboration, the performance can be evaluated based on the independent descriptions, even in a situation where several kinds of communications exist as in the case of the two-way communication and the multiplex system. In the simplified model, the result of evaluation can be obtained in a simple way by reducing the task in the execution, by pre-examining the communication protocol that is executed iteratively by the process.