Comparison of Some Multiple-Access Systems

Multiple-access systems use two types of protocols – station control and packet control. Typical representatives of these protocols are compared: time sharing is compared with the stack algorithm, token-passing access is compared with the stack algorithm in a local-area network. Poisson arrivals are assumed for all $M$ stations with equal intensities $\lambda/M$. The comparison criterion is the mean packet delay. The set of possible $(\lambda,M)$ is partitioned into regions, such that station-control systems are preferred in one region and packet-control systems are preferred in the other.