It is common, either for a telecommunications service provider or for a corporate enterprise, to have multiple data networks. For example, both an IP network and an ATM or Frame Relay network could be in operation to serve different applications. This can result in parallel transport links between the same two locations, each carrying data traffic under a different protocol. In this paper, we consider some practical engineering rules, for particular situations, to evaluate whether or not it is advantageous to combine these parallel traffic streams onto a single transport link. Combining the streams requires additional overhead (a so-called "cell tax" ) but, in at least some situations, can result in more efficient use of modular transport capacity. Simple graphs can be used to summarize the analysis. Some interesting, and perhaps unexpected, observations can be made.

Date Published: 25 October 2004
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 5598, Performance, Quality of Service, and Control of Next-Generation Communication Networks II, (25 October 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.569602

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5598:
Performance, Quality of Service, and Control of Next-Generation Communication Networks II
Frank Huebner; Robert D. van der Mei, Editor(s)