Performance of multicast over bidirectional slotted ring networks

Scheutzow et al. have presented an analytical model to evaluate the capacity of the unidirectional and bidirectional TT-FR packet-switched ring network under multicast traffic (i.e., a ring where each node is equipped with one tuned transmitter, TT, and one fixed receiver, FR). In this paper, we investigate the impact of multicast on the access delay of the bidirectional TT-FR, by means of an analytical model based on the computation of blocking probability and on the discrete Geom/Geom/1 queue. Moreover, the capacity and the delay of the TT-FRW system (i.e., each ring node has as many fixed receivers as wavelength channels W) are calculated and compared to those of TT-FR. The obtained results are validated by using extensive simulations, and the self-similarity influence is also shown. This work offers an important and simple analytical tool to compare the impact of multicast on access delays and multicast capacity in future slotted ring networks