Extended distributed queueing for integrated services

A method for supporting time-constrained and nontime-constrained integrated services on a shared dual bus network is presented. The method is an extension of the basic distributed queue protocol defined in the IEEE 802.6 distributed-queue dual-bus (DQDB) MAN standard. The extended distributed queueing protocol differs from the basic protocol in allowing more than one outstanding request in the distributed queue at any one time. Used at the high priority and in conjunction with segment stream shaping and subscribed service limiting, the extended protocol provides bearer services with guaranteed bandwidth and bounded delays. Bearer services with fair but nonguaranteed bandwidth shares, suitable for nontime-constrained applications, are provided by the same protocol and bandwidth balancing operating at the lowest priority. A number of the desirable attributes of the proposed scheme are identified including the optimality of the delay variance introduced by the access protocol. An approximate analysis of the access delay experience by time-constrained streams is presented