Performance measures of intelligent computer network nodes

A principal advantage of basing network architecture on the customised selection of protocols is to provide a means of implementing fine grained specific functions as well as a powerful platform for customisation of the infrastructure. An intelligent computer network node is modeled as a graph with a subset of protocols as graph nodes and a pair of co-operating protocols as graph links. The separate subsets of protocols contain protocols with similar scope of functionality and different value of parameters describing the quantity of delivered services. Processing times and increasing rates associated with every pair of protocols are utilised to formulate performance criteria describing the quality of ordered protocols set and offered services. The proposed performance measure, composed of processing time and route length, is then applied to formulate protocol stack analysis and design tasks