Modeling and simulation of ATM/BISDN enterprise networks

This paper discusses some of the simulation modeling techniques for future ATM/BISDN enterprise networks being developed at AT&T GIS and AT&T Bell Labs which could be applied to network architectures involving banks, insurance companies, retail businesses, private networks, etc. to provide global information solutions. A brief overview of ATM and analytical modeling techniques for ATM is presented. This is then followed by an illustration of simulation modeling using OPNET, one of the state-of-the-art simulation packages. OPNET was chosen as the tool of choice for ATM networking due its unique ability, to date, to easily conduct state-diagram modeling in a hierarchical environment and also due to its inherent ability to provide an open interface to such proven analytical tools as MATLAB, QTK, QUEUE, M/G/1/N+1, GI/M/N+1 and proprietary internal AT&T Bell Labs tools such as PAT, Q SQUARED, MYPAL, QNA, PANACEA, TRAFFCALC, etc., which will be needed to do some of the cross-checking of the simulations