A simple ATM backbone network reliability model

Network reliability refers to the reliability of the overall network to provide communication in the event of a failure of a component in the network, and it depends on the sustainability of both hardware and software. Traditionally, failures were primarily due to hardware malfunctions, and thus the emphasis was on element-level network availability and the determination of overall network availability. In current networks, most failures are due to fiber cable cuts, software causes and malicious attacks. Such failures can drop a significant number of existing connections. Thus the network should have the ability, with low latency, to detect and isolate faults and reconnect the affected connections. This paper presents an ATM backbone network reliability model that illustrates how different levels of network reliability can be achieved given certain node and network characteristics using results on lower bounds for network reliability.