Multicast ATM Switches Using Buffered MIN Structure: A Performance Study

A (large) multicast ATM switch with external structure of output queueing and internal structure of buflered MINs (multistage interconnection networks) M considered, where the buffered MIN (also called switching network) is composed of switching elements with shared buffer output queueing. Cell replication wht!e routing scheme is used in the switch to implement multicast function. In this paper, we study the performance of the switch with multicast traj$c, mainly via computer simulations. The multicast trafic can be random and bursty. From our study we found that for multicast trajic with truncated geometric distribution of cell fanouts it has only a slightly worse impact on the performance of switchzng elements in isolation or in the last stage of the switching network, The multicast trajjlc has no worse effect on the switch output buffer behavior and ceil delay in the switching network Moreover, trafic splitting can substantially improve the switching network performance for highly bursty trafic. Some analytical approximations are given which could be useful in the dimensioning of switching networks.