The Modeling and Simulation of a Circuit Switched Distributed Interactive Terminal Network

The newly installed terminal switching network at Sandia National Laboratories has been modeled with analytic and simulation techniques. Using classical queuing techniques and parameters derived from recorded usage data, fair and equitable allocations of interactive computer ports have been made. The allocations were then refined through the use of simulation techniques. The effect of balking as an alternative to entering queues has been shown to have substantial performance and stabilization effects on the network. In addition, it was found that the probability of balking as a function of queue length is not a monotonically increasing function. The simulation programs are also used to evaluate the performance of other interactive computer systems when subjected to various loads.