Enhancing ATM Network Performance by Optimizing the Virtual Network Configuration

Abstract

Virtual or logical subnetworks are expected to play an important role in large B-ISDN configurations. This gives an additional degree of freedom to ATM network architectures, since even for a fixed physical network the logical configuration can still vary depending on particular demands and conditions. This new degree of freedom calls for new solutions to utilize the opportunity for the potential enhancement of network performance by optimizing the logical configuration, as part of optimizing the distributed network architecture. In this paper a framework and model, along with efficient solution algorithms, are presented to dimension virtual ATM networks on top of the same physical infrastructure network, such that the virtual networks share the infrastructure, while the total network revenue is optimized. The algorithms are tried on various network scenarios and a trade-off between the quality of the result and running time is exhibited.