Evaluating scheduling algorithms for traffic with heterogeneous performance objectives

Two types of network traffic are considered: traffic with deadlines, for which the most important performance objective is based on loss rate and packets without deadlines, for which the most important performance objective is based on mean delay. An optional scheduling algorithm is presented to minimize weighted loss rate and weighted mean delay in the queues that form at the switches and at the network access points of a packet-switched network where weights reflect the relative importance of packets. The algorithm is intended as a standard for the comparison of the performance of other scheduling algorithms. The algorithm is more general and lower computational complexity than previously published algorithms, enabling performance evaluation of some important scenarios that could not previously have been considered. Using the optimal performance results of this algorithm, the performance of the first-come-first-served, static priority, and earliest deadline first scheduling algorithms is evaluated