Quarts: A test-bed for dynamic routing over ATM networks

How a path is selected for a call from its source to its destination is one of the key design issues in ATM networks. A routing test-bed is essential to understand a routing (path-selection) algorithm´s dynamic behaviour and evaluate its performance. Such a test-bed, called QUARTS, has been built to design routing protocols over ATM networks. QUARTS is a discrete-event-driven test-bed. In QUARTS, a physical ATM network is decomposed into various functional modules; i.e., switch, link, end-system and routing modules. Using these modules as building blocks, one can construct any arbitrary network topology. Through a friendly and efficient graphical user interface of QUARTS, the network configuration and simulation can be easily manipulated. A comprehensive description of the test-bed is presented in this paper along with some simulation results from its use in the development of connection admission control algorithms for efficient dynamic routing over ATM networks.