Receptivity: a measure of computer networks´ ability to accommodate concurrent communication

A network performance measure, called receptivity, is introduced which quantifies a computer network´s ability to accommodate concurrent communication. Receptivity is basically defined as the probability that a rejection of a communication request does not occur, i.e., it is the probability that the network will be receptive to all expected concurrent communication requests. A graph-theoretic result is derived which places upper bounds on the maximum number of concurrently communicating origin-destination pairs which a given computer network can accommodate. The bound is dependent on several important network parameters including the number of network links, the maximum link capacity, and a measure of the network´s average minimum hop distance. The upper bound result is used as a basis for estimating receptivity. The estimate for receptivity compares favorably with simulated values of receptivity for several example networks