Logical clustering for the optimization and analysis of a rearrangeable distributed ATM switch

A practical approach to the analysis and operation of medium to large-size distributed asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches based on an original optical reconfigurable architecture is described. The optical nature of the switch provides enormous bandwidth with input/output port rates on the order of gigabits/second, and the distributed approach is highly modular, creating an easily growable switch. The interconnection pattern between input and output ports is dynamically reconfigurable; the switch can thus exploit nonuniformities in the offered traffic and optimize its connectivity accordingly. For a 24*24 switch, this leads to performance that matches that of a fully connected output buffered ideal centralized switch. Simulation results for a switch of size 81*81 seem to indicate that the traffic-handling capability scales well with the size of the switch when nonuniformity prevails in the offered traffic, a realistic assumption. Clustering techniques would permit the optimization and operation of much larger reconfigurable distributed ATM switches.<<ETX>>