Multi - Hour , Multi - Tra c Class Network Design for VP - basedWide - Area Dynamically Recon gurable ATM

Virtual Path (VP) concept has been gaining attention in terms of eeective deployment of ATM (Asyn-chronous Transfer Mode) networks in recent years. In this paper, we discuss a multi-hour, multi-traac class network (capacity) design model for providing speciied quality-of-service in dynamically reconngurable ATM networks. Our approach is based on statistical multi-plexing of traac within a traac class by using a virtual path for the class and deterministic multiplexing of different virtual paths, and on providing dynamic band-width and reconngurability through virtual path concept depending on traac load during the course of the day. We show that, for test problems based on realistic network data, our approach does between 6% to 20% better than a local shortest path heuristic in terms of network cost. We also show that considering network dynamism through variation of traac during the course of a day by doing dynamic bandwidth and virtual path reconnguration can save between 10% to 14% in network design costs compared to a static network based on maximum busy hour traac.