Protocol implementation and other performance issues for local and metropolitan area networks

Numerous performance issues relating to the local and metropolitan area networks (LAN/MAN) arise as the utilization of these networks increases and their technology continuously changes. The author describes some of the issues and the architectures that are being examined with simulation modeling. These representative architectures are selected for focus on both the available analyses and the need for further study. The author presents initial results of simulation studies of TCP/IP implementation on Ethernet. These initial results show how the implementation of the sliding window acknowledgement mechanism can affect productive data throughput on an Ethernet. It is concluded that these results can provide insight about how protocol implementation impacts LAN/MAN performance