A new metrics towards comprehensive performance evaluation of ATM networks

The design of a practical ATM network continues to be challenging, owing to the difficulty in the accurate estimation of user traffic and the wide range of user´s quality of service requirements. There is little consensus on the characterization of network performance, users´ satisfaction, and the efficiency of network usage. This paper develops a single metric for network performance that captures the efficiency of resources usage, from the network point of view, and the users´ satisfaction, from the user point of view. The metric is evaluated for a 19-node ATM network, organized through a three-tiered hierarchy, and subject to asymmetric traffic