Fast ring: architecture and protocol

A new medium-access control protocol and architecture, named fast ring, is proposed, which in the worst case performs as well as the token ring protocol. An analytical solution for the mean transfer time of the fast ring is derived and validated by the results of a simulation study. It is shown that the fast ring exhibits better performance than the contention ring, token ring, and CMSA/CD protocols. It is the most stable protocol, and changes in the network size or transmission rate do not affect its performance adversely. Because of its low delay at low throughputs, it can be used in situations where the token ring is thought to be not useful. It can also be used in places where the token ring is most suitable. This protocol exhibits therefore superior performance for almost all applications, a property that no other protocol possesses. >