Analytic models of cyclic service systems and their application to token-passing local networks

Using the framework of cyclic-service systems with a single server, two different token-passing models are investigated. The first model is approximate, obtaining the free-tokens cycle-time distribution on an asymmetric system with infinite capacity buffers and single-token operation. The second model is exact, yielding the cycle-time distribution of the free token on an asymmetric system with unit-capacity buffers, and single-token operation. The latter result is verified using known results for symmetric, unit-capacity buffer systems. To demonstrate the positive effects of buffering, a small variation of the unit-capacity buffering scheme is introduced. Computational results include performance measures such as throughput, utilization, loss probabilities, mean cycle times, cycle-time distributions, and a comparison of two buffering schemes