Performance testing methodologies for ATM traffic management mechanisms

Maximizing bandwidth utilization and providing performance guarantees in the context of the multimedia networking are two incompatible goals. The heterogeneity of the multimedia sources calls for the effective control schemes to satisfy these diverse quality of service requirements. These include traffic control at the source ends and the effective scheduling schemes at the switches. The discussion in this paper is mainly focused on the methodologies to test these two aspects of the device implementing the ATM (asynchronous transfer mode). The algorithms adopted in this paper not only check the credibility of the switch to provide the defined QoS (quality of service) to the conforming traffic but also checks for the due response of the switch in case the stream under observation goes out of conformance. We also show that the measurements collected will not only facilitate the verification of the desired QoS class but also helps in assessing the effects of different scheduling and priority mechanisms adopted by the switch. With the diverse QoS requirements, testing the ability of the switch to provide the correct and prompt response is the only way out for the reliable and stable network.