Modeling buffer utilization in cell-based networks

Variable bit rate traffic is characteristically bursty and the arrivals are highly correlated. New network technology carries such traffic in cell-based networks where the service is a discrete time, deterministic process with the service rate determined by bandwidth negotiated by the user. Managing such networks is hard, and predicting cell loss at a station with limited buffer capacity K is essential to enable the user to negotiate his quality of service requirements. We present an analysis to determine the queue length distribution and the loss probability in such circumstances. For our analysis, we use an m-phase Markov Modulated Bernoulli Process with binomial distributed batch arrivals and deterministic service and limited capacity K, i.e. a MMBP(m)([X])/D/l - K queuing system. We show that the system can be analyzed using the so-called unfinished work approach. The validity of our evaluation technique is illustrated by comparing our analytical results against those obtained from an event-driven simulation of the same system. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.