A framework for jitter analysis in cell based multiplexers

The jitter incurred to a constant bit rate periodic traffic stream in a cell based multiplexer, typical of an ATM environment, is formulated and analyzed. In particular, a discrete time queue that accepts the superposition of a periodic and background traffic (consisting of independent and identically distributed batches of cells) streams is analyzed. The distribution of the jitter and the numerical aspects involved are presented and the effect of various traffic parameters (e.g., the background traffic load, the period of the periodic traffic, etc.) on the jitter of the periodic traffic are investigated. As a by-product of the analysis, the joint distribution of the queue size at successive periodic “customer” arrivals is also derived.