Design and optimization of an asynchronous transfer mode network for the Department of National Defence

In the past, the Department of National Defence (DND) has had numerous telecommunication networks. The most recent network acquired (1989) is the Integrated Data Network (IDN). Its highest bandwidth link is 56 kbps. With new computer projects requiring larger bandwidth like videoconferencing, IDN will not have enough bandwidth to meet the requirements of DND for the future.; This thesis presents a mathematical model, using a linear programming formulation, to find the network topology that DND will need to meet its future requirements. The objective function of this model is to minimize the leasing costs of links from T1 (1.544 Mbps) to OC-12 (622.08 Mbps) with the constraint of a maximum link utilization/delay. Another constraint is that there are at least two paths from any node to any other node. This thesis also presents the results of traffic analyses done to forecast the future requirements of traffic for DND. A commercial software package, called GAMS, was used to optimize the objective function. Another commercial software package, OPNET, was used to verify the level of service of the network found by GAMS to see whether it is acceptable (i.e. end-to-end delay).