On a class of Banyan networks and tandem Banyan switching fabrics

The operating characteristics of a class of tandem banyan switching fabrics (TBSFs) built using bi-delta networks are examined. Functional equivalence between bi-delta networks induces an equivalence between TBSFs as well. A weaker form of equivalence guaranteeing identical performance under the conditions of symmetric traffic is studied, and sufficient conditions for weak equivalent between functionally distinct TBSFs is established. These results hold for a variety of conflict resolution policies (CRPs). Simulations indicate that a TBSF constructed by cascading omega networks (or in fact any other TBSF in its weak equivalence class) performs better than the two TBSFs studied by F.A. Tobagi et al. (1991) and converges rapidly to a theoretical lower bound on the loss rate in the region of interest