Performance analysis of bridged LANs

As the requirements of LANs have evolved, an increasing number of LANs now incorporate MAC bridges. In many instances, however, the choice of bridges, and the interconnection topologies used with them, is being made based on technological grounds rather than on firm predictions of improvements in overall network response times. The paper identifies the issues that must be considered when expanding a LAN and also, through a series of simulation results, illustrates the effect on the overall network performance of various bridge parameters and interconnection topologies. The paper concludes with some guidelines to be followed for creating a bridged LAN comprising many interconnected segments.