Estimation of reliability for communication/computer networks simulation/analytic approach

A general simulation/analytic approach for jointly assessing the reliability and performance of a communication/computer network is proposed. The advantages of this approach are the following: (a) it allows consideration of a variety of performance measures, (b) it allows consideration of a general structure of network components failure distribution, (c) it reduces complexity of the model and related calculations, (d) it is relatively simple to implement, and (e) it can derive sensitivity information about network performance with respect to various parameters-the first step for an effective network optimization algorithm. The method is illustrated in a number of examples using network connectivity and weighted network bandwidth as a measure of performance