Classification of fairness measures for local and metropolitan area networks

As appeared in Computer Communications WW lodek Dobosiewicz Pawee l Gburzy nski y Vincent Maciejewski z present a model for measuring the fairness in LANs and MANs. Abstract Fairness of very high-speed networks became a focus of interest since the moment Distributed Queue Dual Bus (dqdb) gained popularity. Several papers exposed its unfairness; at the same time, many researchers argued that this unfairness is purely hypothetical. In our opinion, this controversy resulted from the absence of any systematic approach to what fairness is. We introduce a systematic classiication of fairness measures in local and metropolitan area networks. A \points of view" approach to fairness is proposed: depending on the point of view the observer's perception of fairness may diier signiicantly. This phenomenon is illustrated with the example of a simple (and apparently unfair) protocol.