Computer Communication Techniques

Evaluating the performance of communications and computer systems constitutes a challenge. This volume contains contributions and presentations made by international researchers at a workshop which was held in April 2004 to honour Professor Erol Gelenbe on the occasion of his inaugural lecture as the Dennis Gabor Chair at Imperial College London.

The subject of computer communications is changing very rapidly. Improvements in terminal access, aligned with the development of timesharing, has brought hands-on experience to a large number of non specialist users. Computer networks have made available vast computing resources and data banks to these users. This book is for anyone familiar with using computers who wishes to understand the techniques used in computer communications. It is also an introduction to the architecture of present day computer communication systems. I would like to thank Roland lbbett, Steve Treadwell, Peter Kirstein and Del Thomas for their invaluable advice and encouragement. My thanks also to Malcolm Stewart and the staff at Macmillan. The late Gareth Pugh encouraged my interest in computer communications and provided the opportunity to develop the material for this book. The text was formatted on a UNIX computer system: I am grateful to Professor Kirstein for permission to use this system. I am indebted to NEC Telecommunications Europe for the use of a spinwriter printer on which the master copy was produced. Finally, no amount of words can express my debt to Jo this project and Rosemary for patiently bearing with over the last three years.

Performance of Computer Communication Systems A Model-Based Approach Boudewijn R. Haverkort Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany Computer communication systems and distributed systems are now able to provide an increasing range of services. As the timing requirements in the operation of these services are becoming crucial for the global community. performance assessment and selection of communication and distributed systems are, therefore, becoming more important. In this book, the author illustrates the techniques and methods used to evaluate the performance of computer communication systems, thereby covering all aspects of model-based performance evaluation. Unlike other books on this topic, there is no restriction to a particular performance evaluation technique. Notable features in this book include: * coverage of all major techniques of performance evaluation * non-mathematical problem solving approach, explaining and illustrating performance evaluation techniques * assessment techniques for stochastic processes, single server queues, networks of queues and stochastic Petri nets * numerous application studies, including token ring systems, client-server systems, and wide-area networks * substantial number of practical exercises and examples. For computer or electrical engineers who design and implement computer communication systems, this book provides an excellent overview of the methods and techniques used to construct and solve performance models. It is also a valuable source of information for postgraduate students in computer science and related subjects. Visit Our Web Page! http://www.wiley.com/

Analysis of Computer and Communication Networks provides the basic techniques for modeling and analyzing two of the fundamental components of high performance networks: switching equipment, and software employed at the end nodes and intermediate switches. The book also reviews the design options used to build efficient switching equipment. Topics covered include Markov chains and queuing analysis, traffic modeling, interconnection networks, and switch architectures and buffering strategies. This book covers the mathematical theory and techniques necessary for analyzing telecommunication systems. Queuing and Markov chain analyses are provided for many protocols currently in use. The book then discusses in detail applications of Markov chains and queuing analysis to model more than 15 communications protocols and hardware components.

Wafer-scale integration has long been the dream of system designers. Instead of chopping a wafer into a few hundred or a few thousand chips, one would just connect the circuits on the entire wafer. What an enormous capability wafer-scale integration would offer: all those millions of circuits connected by high-speed on-chip wires. Unfortunately, the best known optical systems can provide suitably ?ne resolution only over an area much smaller than a whole wafer. There is no known way to pattern a whole wafer with transistors and wires small enough for modern circuits. Statistical defects present a ?rmer barrier to wafer-scale integration. Flaws appear regularly in integrated circuits; the larger the circuit area, the more probable there is a ?aw. If such ?aws were the result only of dust one might reduce their numbers, but ?aws are also the inevitable result of small scale. Each feature on a modern integrated circuit is carved out by only a small number of photons in the lithographic process. Each transistor gets its electrical properties from only a small number of impurity atoms in its tiny area. Inevitably, the quantized nature of light and the atomic nature of matter produce statistical variations in both the number of photons de?ning each tiny shape and the number of atoms providing the electrical behavior of tiny transistors. No known way exists to eliminate such statistical variation, nor may any be possible.

Computer and Communication Networks, Second Edition first establishes a solid foundation in basic networking concepts, TCP/IP schemes, wireless networking, Internet applications, and network security. Next, Mir delves into the mathematical analysis of networks, as well as advanced networking protocols. This fully-updated text thoroughly explains the modern technologies of networking and communications among computers, servers, routers, and other smart communication devices, helping readers design cost-effective networks that meet emerging requirements. Offering uniquely balanced coverage of all key basic and advanced topics, it teaches through extensive, up-to-date case studies, 400 examples and exercises, and 250+ illustrative figures. Nader F. Mir provides the practical, scenario-based information many networking books lack, and offers a uniquely effective blend of theory and implementation. Drawing on extensive experience in the field, he introduces a wide spectrum of contemporary applications, and covers several key topics that competitive texts skim past or ignore completely, such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Information-Centric Networking.

A main course text for courses or modules on computer communications, this text takes an approach that looks at computing communications in terms of principles (information, time and networks). It includes three major case studies and covers current issues such as B-ISDN and ATM.

In large measure the traditional concern of communications engineers has been the conveyance of voice signals. The most prominent example is the telephone network, in which the techniques used for transmission multiplex ing and switching have been designed for voice signals. However, one of the many effects of computers has been the growing volume of the sort of traffic that flows in networks composed of user terminals, processors, and peripherals. The characteristics of this data traffic and the associated perfor mance requirements are quite different from those of voice traffic. These differences, coupled with burgeoning digital technology, have engendered a whole new set of approaches to multiplexing and switching this traffic. The new techniques are the province of what has been loosely called computer communications networks. The subject of this book is the mathematical modeling and analysis of computer communications networks, that is to say, the multiplexing and switching techniques that have been developed for data traffic. The basis for many of the models that we shall consider is queueing theory, although a number of other disciplines are drawn on as well. The level at which this material is covered is that of a first-year graduate course. It is assumed that at the outset the student has had a good undergraduate course in probability and random processes of the sort that are more and more common among electrical engineering and computer science departments.

Capacity assignment in networks; Capacity assignment in distributed network; Centralized networks: time delay-cost trade offs; Elements of queueing theory; Concentration and buffering in store-and-forward networks; Concentration: finite buffers, dynamic buffering, block storage; Centralized network design: multipoint connections; Network design algorithms; Routing and flow control; Polling in networks; Random access techniques; Line control procedures.