Compartmental Models for Data Network Dynamics

Compartmental models have found extensive use in the Biological and Chemical sciences, yet are seldom used in engineering. In a recent publication, the authors described the use of compartmental models for the analysis of circuit-switched communications network dynamics. The models were used to investigate the behavior of different network management controls, taking into account time sensitive effects such as user calling behavior and time-varying network stress. This paper expands the application of this modeling approach to the analysis of virtual circuit data networks. The approach consists of defining the network states in terms of global variables (e.g., network carried load) and then using compartmental analysis to describe the system's dynamics. The approach is fruitful because it allows one to investigate interesting network behavior using a straightforward set of dynamical equations.