Performance evaluation of the binary logarithmic arbitration method (BLAM)

The binary logarithmic arbitration method (BLAM) is currently under review by the IEEE 802.3 standards committee for possible standardization. BLAM is a new arbitration algorithm for Ethernet that is backwards compatible with the existing binary exponential backoff (BEB) algorithm. Simulation models of BEB and BLAM are developed. Using these models, four experiments evaluating BEB and BLAM under overload conditions are described. The experiments focus on a small population Ethernet, scaling to large population Ethernets, BLAM and BEB compatibility, and the ability to transmit 64-kbps voice streams. It is shown that BLAM supports higher throughput and lower delay than BEB. BLAM also demonstrates notably lower variability in delay than BEB. For the transmission of voice streams, it is shown that BLAM offers outstanding performance in the percentage of voice packets successfully transmitted within a hard deadline of 10 or 20 milliseconds.