Topological design of local access networks

A heuristic clustering method for the topological design of local access networks using multilevel concentrators is presented. This algorithm efficiently groups terminals and locates concentrators at the center of the clusters. The method, which is a modification of the iterative self-organizing data analysis technique, places an a priori limit on the number of levels of concentrators. The algorithm produces network configurations with lower total costs than previous heuristic methods. In addition, the space and time complexity is a quadratic function of the number of concentrators use