A fair statistical multiplexer for an integrated services packet network

A statistical multiplexer with N input lines is analyzed under a general packet arrival model. The model is suitable for the unified description of the packet processes generated by different sources of information in an integrated services packet network (ISPN). To introduce a kind of fairness in the service procedure, it is assumed that the first packet of a message (or one of the packets arriving at the same slot) is given priority by entering a preemptive priority queue while the rest of the packets enter a second (low-priority) queue. This service policy favors single packets or, in general, short messages over long ones. In an integrated services network, where different kinds of messages are accommodated, it may be necessary to adopt such a service policy to avoid long delays of single packets (or short messages). The mean delay of the two categories of packets is calculated together with the mean buffer occupancy in each of the two queues