Contention free cyclic release reservation arbitrated access for multiplexing real time traffic over dual bus metropolitan area networks

We present a novel cyclic release reservation arbitrated access scheme for multiplexing real time traffic such as voice and video over dual bus metropolitan area networks (MANs) in general and IEEE 802.6 MANs in particular. The reservation scheme allows variable bit rate traffic sources (VBRS) to capture and reserve some isochronous channels on a bandwidth on demand basis, while the cyclic release mechanism ensures fair access by all stations. System performance is analyzed by both theoretical computations and computer simulations covering voice, video conference and motion video traffic. Results indicate that the protocol is fair and yields substantial capacity improvements over pre-arbitrated access. The proposed protocol complements existing access methods in 802.6 MAN to provide efficient traffic transport for all types of BISDN services.