Connection-oriented communications for real-time applications in FDDI-ATM-FDDI heterogeneous networks

We study connection-oriented service in an FDDI-ATM-FDDI heterogeneous network for real-time applications. We design and analyze an algorithm for connection admission control (CAC) for such a network. Upon a request of connection establishment, the CAC determines if the worst case delays of the requesting and existing connections can be satisfied given the available network resources. If so, the CAC allocates appropriate network resources to the requesting connection. The process of allocating resources for homogeneous networks (e.g. FDDI-only or ATM-only) may not be applied directly to a heterogeneous network environment (e.g. FDDI-ATM-FDDI network) because heterogeneity adds more complexity to the process. Hence resource allocation in a heterogeneous network needs more careful analysis than its homogeneous counterpart. We propose a CAC algorithm that will, by proper parameter tuning, allocate sufficient but not excessive network resources to the requesting connection in an FDDI-ATM-FDDI network. We show that the system can achieve satisfactory performance with this CAC algorithm. Our approach is compatible with current network standards and hence can be readily used in practical systems.