Performance analysis of a multicast switch

The performance of a multicast switch, a space division switch in which a packet at an input port is routed to a subset of the output ports, is discussed. The delay under the assumption of input port buffering is determined. The system is modeled as an independent set of M/G/1 queues. A key assumption in the analysis is that output port contention is settled by random selection among the contending input ports. In order to justify this as well as the other assumptions, a Monte-Carlo simulation of the system is devised. Numerical results from the analysis and simulation of the system are presented.< >