Routing Procedures in Communications Networks-Part I: Random Procedures

A study is made of possible routing procedures in military communications networks in order to evaluate these procedures in terms of future tactical requirements. In Part I this study is devoted to procedures involving random choices. In such networks each message path is essentially a random walk. Estimates of the average traverse time of each message and average traffic flow through each node are derived by statistical methods under reasonable assumptions on the operating characteristics of the network for various typical random routing procedures. This paper does not purport to present a complete system design. Many design questions, common to all network routing problemsresponse to temporary loss of links or nodes, rules for handling of message priorities, etc.-are not considered here. It is shown that random routing procedures are highly inefficient but extremely stable. A comparison of these theoretical results with the results of an extended computer simulation effort lends support to their reliability, discrepancies being accounted for by the simplifying nature of the statistical assumptions. It is suggested that in circumstances where the need for stability outweighs the need for efficiency, this type of network might be advantageously employed.