The University of British Columbia

This paper presents ATM network simulation results which explore the statistical multiplexing gain characteristics of Virtual Frame Queueing (VFQ), a frame-based congestion management strategy with independent cell delay and cell delay variation bounds. The multiplexing performance is investigated using bursty sources requiring strict delay bounds, and is compared to the multiplexing performance offered by a work-conserving strategy called Self Clocked Fair Queueing. The simulation results suggest that the VFQ strategy is very efficient at high link utilization levels. Both strategies display similar multiplexing performance at lower link utilization levels. The discussion explores a variety of circuit-level and network-level issues that determine desirable qualities for ATM congestion management strategies.