Performance and stability of communication networks via robust exponential bounds

A method for evaluating the performance of packet switching communication networks under a fixed, session-based, routing strategy is proposed. The approach is based on properly bounding the probability distribution functions of the system input processes. The suggested bounds which are decaying exponentials, possess three convenient properties. When the inputs to an isolated network element are all bounded, they result in bounded outputs and assure that the delays and queues in this element have exponentially decaying distributions. In some network settings, bounded inputs result in bounded outputs. Natural traffic processes can be shown to satisfy such bounds. Consequently, this method enables the analysis of various previously intractable setups. Sufficient conditions are provided for the stability of such networks, and derive upper bounds for the parameters of network performance are derived.< >