SUMMARYIntelligent network (IN) architectures are investigated globally as potential candidates for the rapid introduction of advanced multimedia services. The IN concept is based on the introduction of intelligent servers in the network, able to handle complex service requests by cooperating with the signalling system of the network. The design and implementation of the physical entities participating in a IN session is a critical issue as it de"nes the system performance. In this paper we propose a methodology for modelling the physical and functional entities which is used to capture the performance of IN-based con"gurations. We put our emphasis on the processing speed required for the execution of the IN processes in the servers and we present results with reference to the system performance and the mapping of functions to physical entities.