A new multiple access protocol for active star-configured fiber-optic local area networks-STARMAP

A multiple-access protocol called STARMAP is proposed for active star-configured fiber-optic local area networks. The main features of the protocol include collision-avoidance, no packet retransmissions, a bounded access delay time, and a reasonable degree of fairness among the nodes contending for transmission. The analysis of the protocol is based on an embedded discrete-time queuing process obtained by examining the system only at the beginning of the node transmission times. Expressions for the throughput and the mean packet delay are presented. Numerical, as well as simulation, results are obtained for a four-node system and a ten-node system. For the numerical examples considered, the STARMAP protocol seems to show superior performance over the HUBNET protocol.<
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