A low-cost multigrid network architecture (MNA)-based system is evaluated for its applicability to multimedia data transfer. Computer simulation data illustrates the impact of a simple routing policy on the performance of high-speed networks and its effect on the ordering behavior of multimedia data cells. As indicated by the simulation results. the use of nondeterministic routing that characterizes MNA into LANs does not affect the ability of such systems to support multimedia data transfer. MNA-based systems require a limited-size buffer, and since, on average, most cells arrive in order, the cell sequencing can be maintained at a relatively low cost (in terms of buffering and processing). This fact, combined with the potentially very high speed of operation, makes MNA-based systems a serious design alternative for future fiber-optic networks. To further validate with the feasibility of the approach, a simplified hardware demonstration of a resource allocator was constructed.
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