Modelling Of Computer And Communication Systems

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.

This 1987 book is a self-contained text on the probabilistic modelling method. It provides the reader with an understanding of the available results as well as with examples of their application. The only background assumed is a knowledge of basic calculus. The necessary fundamentals of probability are presented followed by an introduction to stochastic processes. The remainder of the book is devoted to the treatment of various single-station and their application to uni-programmed and multi-programmed systems and local and wide-area networks. Both exact and approximate solution methods are discussed, with as much emphasis on explaining the ideas and providing information, as on derivations and proofs. This book will still be of use for anyone with an interest in the history of computer science.

This volume contains the complete set of tutorial papers presented at the 16th IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) Working Group 7.3 International Symposium on Computer Performance Modelling, Measurement and Evaluation, and a number of tutorial papers presented at the 1993 ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Special Interest Group METRICS Conference on Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems. The principal goal of the volume is to present an overview of recent results in the field of modeling and performance evaluation of computer and communication systems. The wide diversity of applications and methodologies included in the tutorials attests to the breadth and richness of current research in the area of performance modeling. The tutorials may serve to introduce a reader to an unfamiliar research area, to unify material already known, or simply to illustrate the diversity of research in the field. The extensive bibliographies guide readers to additional sources for further reading.

This book on modeling complex communications systems explains how designers can describe, model, and measure trade-offs at the architectural level--where specs are translated into designs--and at the synthesis level--where designs are translated into executable code.

Since the first edition of this book was published seven years ago, the field of modeling and simulation of communication systems has grown and matured in many ways, and the use of simulation as a day-to-day tool is now even more common practice. With the current interest in digital mobile communications, a primary area of application of modeling and simulation is now in wireless systems of a different flavor from the `traditional' ones. This second edition represents a substantial revision of the first, partly to accommodate the new applications that have arisen. New chapters include material on modeling and simulation of nonlinear systems, with a complementary section on related measurement techniques, channel modeling and three new case studies; a consolidated set of problems is provided at the end of the book.

Communication networks and computer systems research is entering a new phase in which many of the established models and techniques of the last twenty years are being challenged. The research community is continuing to free itself from past intellectual constraints so that it may fully exploit the convergence of computing and communications. Evaluating the performance of emerging communications and computer systems constitutes a huge challenge. Thus, current research provides a set of heterogeneous tools and techniques embracing the uncertainties of time and space varying environments when the requests for diverse services are made in real time, and with very different quality of service expectations. These novel techniques will lead to fast and economic service deployment and effective dynamic resource management, and hence to new business strategies and infrastructures that will facilitate the emergence of future services and applications. This volume contains contributions and presentations made by leading 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. Contents:Erol Gelenbe's Contributions to Computer and Networks Performance (A Bensoussan)Rethinking Incentives for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (E Huang et al.)Fair and Efficient Allocation of Resources in the Internet (R M Salles & J A Barria)The Locality Principle (P J Denning)A Simulation-Based Performance Analysis of Epoch Task Scheduling in Distributed Processors (H Karatza)Counter Intuitive Aspects of Statistical Independence in Steady State Distributions (J P Buzen)The Non-Stationary Loss Queue: A Survey (K A Alnowibet & H Perros)Stabilization Techniques for Load-Dependent Queueing Networks Algorithms (G Casale & G Serazzi)Modelling and Simulation of Interdependent Critical Infrastructure: The Road Ahead (E Casalicchio et al.)Stochastic Automata Networks and Lumpable Stochastic Bounds: Bounding Availability (J M Fourneau et al.)Aggregation Methods for Cross-Layer Simulations (M Becker et al.)Space and Time Capacity in Dense Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (P Jacquet)Stochastic Properties of Peer-to-Peer Communication Architecture in a Military Setting (D P Gaver & P A Jacobs)Quantifying the Quality of Audio and Video Transmissions over the Internet: The PSQA Approach (G Rubino)A Study of the Dynamic Behavior of a Web Site (M C Calzarossa & D Tessera) Readership: Postgraduate and graduate students in computing and electrical & electronic engineering; computer and communication systems engineers. Keywords:Resource Management;Modeling;Simulation;Computer and Communication NetworksKey Features:A selection of outstanding research contributions by international experts in the field of networks and computer systemsUseful for graduate students, researchers and experts