A Comparison between the Erlang and Engset Traffic Models in the Provisioning of an Optical Link

This paper analyses and estimates the blocking probability of an optical link generated by the Erlang traffic model when compared to a more realistic model proposed by Engset when both models are calibrated to present the same mean rate of request arrivals. The resulting Erlang overestimation of the blocking probability is caused by the intrinsic hypothesis of an infinite number of traffic sources, each one generating an infinitesimal traffic rate.