Sharp approximate models of deflection routing in mesh networks

Deflection routing is a simple, decentralized, and adaptive method for routing data packets in communication networks. The focus of this work is on deflection routing in the Manhattan street network (a two-dimensional directed mesh), although the analytic approach should apply to any regular network. Two approximate performance models that give sharp estimates of the steady-state throughput and the average packet delay for packets admitted to the network are presented. The results of extensive simulation experiments are reported, which corroborate the models´ predictions. The results show that deflection routing is very effective. Two measures of the merit of a network for deflection routing are its diameter and its deflection index. Networks are presented whose diameter and deflection index are near the optimal values