Performance of multicasting closed interconnection networks

This paper examines the application of a simple yet general packet replication scheme to achieve multicasting in closed interconnection networks. The performance of these networks is studied and a general throughput equation is obtained to express the overall network throughput in terms of the average routing delay of the corresponding point-to-point network. The multicast performance results are thus built on top of the previously-established, and often simpler, point-to-point results. Making use of this formula, we investigate the multicast closed shuffle-exchange network in detail. Analytical results are compared with simulation results to obtain further insights into the network operation and ways to improve the network performance