FDDI-a local-area network for distributed real-time applications

Distributed real-time control systems increasingly depend on local-area networks (LANs) for information exchange among sensors, processors, and actuators. FDDI (fiber distributed data interface) is a high-speed LAN that can satisfy access delay requirements of such time-constrained applications while simultaneously supporting nontime-constrained applications such as file transfer. The performance of FDDI is examined for time-constrained and nontime-constrained traffic. The simulation results presented include performance parameters such as delay distribution for different classes of messages and the distribution of token rotation times. The effect of errors, such as lost tokens and network severance, on the network performance is examined