High-speed networks: definition and fundamental attributes

This paper represents an effort to develop a simple yet comprehensive understanding of networking through a novel definition-high-speediness, which encapsulates the high-speed nature of networks and is denoted by the symbol 's', two fundamental observations that underlie every network design, and the identification of the fundamental attributes of networks. While the definition is mathematical yet physically intuitive, the two observations are due to the laws of physics and imply fundamental limits on networks, and the attributes fall out from a careful analysis of the primary objectives of networks. In addition to the inherent pedagogical value, high-speediness may be used to classify and compare existing networks. The paper computes the 's' values for important past and present networks. The high-speediness factor may also constitute a desirable, target network operating point, which the network provider may choose to sustain during network operation by imposing suitable controls. The fundamental attributes represent a holistic view of network, revealing the most important issues and how they are interconnected to each other. Together with the attributes, the high-speediness promises to serve as a meaningful guide in the design of future high-speed networks, which constitutes the most contribution of this paper.