Simulation Modelling for Performance Comparison of Cell-Based Access Networks

Abstract

A comparative study of the Distributed Queue Dual Bus (DQDB) and ATM Passive Optical Networks (APONs) is presented with emphasis on their application as access multiplexers to B-ISDN, offering traffic concentration and resource sharing. In this capacity, their performance impacts greatly on the quality of the demanding broadband services. This study is based on computer simulation using a novel modelling solution allowing the simulation to be distributed among a few workstations interconnected via a TCP/IP LAN. The performance comparison shows that DQDB offers lower Cell Delay Variation (CDV) and much lower mean delay although not equally well-bounded. This makes it a prominent candidate for the access role of customers requiring a high degree of quality. On the other hand, the APON, which was introduced with an aim to share the medium and the Optical Line Terminator (OLT) transceiver among a cluster of customers, presents a slightly worse but also acceptable performance in comparison with DQDB.