Case studies of network designs with technology considerations

This paper presents three topological case studies that are optimized for a family of network technologies, such as ATM switch, Ethernet hub and IP Router. The topological studies are carried out by a custom-built evolutionary software tool that automatically selects, integrates and optimizes network devices into a 3-level network topology. The evolutionary tool searches the discrete design space for minimal 3-level hierarchy topology cost while satisfying the protocol translation and network performance. The experimental results for several network designs indicate the effectiveness of the evolutionary tool in finding good network designs with various technologies in less than 15 min.