Performance simulation of a multicast input-indexed switch

A major function of a multicast switch that can determine its performance is the replication of multicast cells. Replicating multicast cells upon arrival provides the switch a high throughput performance. However it also produces a redundant payload that increases the cell loss probability. Generating all the copies of a multicast cell when it is to be transmitted to the output can achieve a low cell loss probability at a cost of a low throughput performance. The input-indexed switch has an architecture that can obtain a high throughput performance and a low cell loss probability. It physically replicates multicast cells at transmission yet has a structure that can logically replicate them upon arrival without generating redundant payload information. The multicast input-indexed scheme is an input-queued switch that has a distributed contention resolution using token bus arbitration. This paper evaluates its performance using computer simulation under different multicast proportions at 100% offered load.