A Diffusion Approximation Model of an Electronic-Optical Node

The article presents a diffusion approximation model applied to investigate the process of filling a large optical packet by smaller and coming irregularly electronical packets. The use of diffusion approximation enables us to include the general distributions of interarrival times, also the self-similarity of the input process, as well as to investigate transient states. We propose a novel diffusion process with jumps representing the end of the filling the buffer due to arrival of too large packet and we give the transient solution to this process. The model allows us to study the distribution of interdeparture times and the distribution of the space occupied in the optical packet.