Loss characterization in high-speed networks through simulation of fluid models

This paper describes the design principles of a fluid-based, discrete-event simulator and its application to the characterization of losses in ATM networks. This simulation technique allows us to obtain performance measures that either cannot be found using known analytical methods or for which a conventional simulation is too expensive; notably, fluid-model simulation makes it feasible to characterize for a given buffer its occupation, duration of congestion periods, frequency of loss bursts and loss-burst volume in fairly complex networks. Several numerical examples illustrate the proposed simulation method.