| Abstract: | This paper presents a new protocol for token ring local computer networks and its performance for single and dual ring networks using simulation modelling. The proposed protocol is a modification of the IEEE 802·5 token ring standard. In this protocol, a station can start transmission if it receives a free token or a data packet passing its interface logic. Idle stations are skipped whenever there is at least one station that has a ready packet to transmit. This is achieved by using two of the reserved bits in the frame status (FS) field. The bits used are called transmission reservation bits (TR-bits). The TR-bits are reset by the sending station and set by the first station that has data to transmit during the round trip of the associated packet along the ring. It is found that the proposed modified token ring (MTR) protocol provides better throughput and delay performance for both the single and dual ring networks. The reduction in mean delay of the MTR as compared to the standard token ring (STR) reaches about 45 per cent under heavy traffic conditions. Moreover, it is found that the performance of the MTR decreases as the packet size increases but remains higher than the corresponding performance of the STR for both the single and dual ring networks. The MTR provides a maximum throughput improvement of about 6 per cent over the STR for both dual and single ring cases. Finally, the proposed protocol (MTR) is easy to implement, with no extra hardware and has low cost/performance characteristics. |
