THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES NEW METHODS FOR DESIGNING OPTIMAL, EXPANDABLE, MULTI-BUS DATA NETWORKS FOR SPACE, MILITARY, AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS.

THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES NEW METHODS FOR DESIGNING OPTIMAL, EXPANDABLE, MULTI-BUS DATA NETWORKS FOR SPACE, MILITARY, AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. COMPUTER NETWORKS ARE BEING USED IN A RAPIDLY EXPANDING VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION TO DATA MANAGEMENT FOR THE SPACE STATION. SEVERAL DESIGN FACTORS DRIVE ALL NETWORK APPLICATIONS: THROUGHPUT, FAULT-TOLERANCE, EXPANDABILITY, AND SECURITY. ALL OF THESE FACTORS CAN BE ENHANCED BY EMPLOYING MULTI-BUS NETWORKS INSTEAD OF POINT-TO-POINT OR SINGLE-BUS NETWORKS. CURRENTLY, MULTI-BUS NETWORKS ARE DESIGNED IN AN AD HOC MANNER WHICH TYPICALLY COMBINES "GOOD ENGINEERING SENSE" WITH EXTENSIVE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS. NETWORKS DESIGNED IN THIS MANNER ARE NOT OPTIMAL WITH RESPECT TO MINIMIZING COST, MAXIMIZING THROUGHPUT, OR OTHER DESIGN OBJECTIVES. CLEARLY, THE CURRENT DESIGN METHODS COULD BE IMPROVED. THIS PROPOSAL DISCUSSES MATHEMATICAL METHODS FOR DESIGNING OPTIMAL, MULTI-BUS NETWORKS THAT SATISFY A SET OF DESIGN OBJECTIVES INVOLVING THROUGHPUT, FAULT-TOLERANCE, EXPANDABILITY, AND SECURITY. THE CENTRAL PROBLEM IN SOLVING STANDARD FORMULATIONS OF THIS PROBLEM IS THAT THE NUMBER OF BUS-TO-NODE INTERCONNECTIONS IS STAGGERING. THE PROBLEM RAPIDLY BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT AS THE NUMBER OF NODES INCREASES. THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR SOLVING MULTI-BUS NETWORK DESIGN PROBLEMS, WITH EMPHASIS GIVEN TO PRACTICAL ARCHITECTURES.