The p/sub i/-persistent protocol is based on a probabilistic scheduling mechanism (see Mukherjee and Meditch, 1988). The authors further develop the protocol to make it easily implementable, by allowing it to be sensitive to changing load conditions. They study various properties of a simple algorithm which stations execute independently by using channel feedback information. This results in a fully distributed control mechanism that continuously adjusts the station probabilities p/sub i/ at their proper levels as governed by the offered traffic. An extensive simulation model has been developed to study properties of this control mechanism such as p/sub i/ settling time and accuracy, behavior under step changes in traffic load, effect of injection of additional packets, and effect of various parameters associated with the underlying algorithm. These experiments indicate that this algorithm is suitable for implementing the protocol.>

In the above-titled paper by Takine et al. (see ibid., vol.COM-36, no.10, p.1119-27, Oct. 1988) an exact analysis of a nonsymmetric polling system with single message buffers was reported. The commenters provide an alternate method for analyzing the exact mean waiting times of the individual stations in the same system by extending an exact analysis for the two-station case. Some corrections to the numerical results provided in the paper are made.>

The p/sub i/-persistent protocol is an excellent candidate for multiaccess communication over very long and very high-speed (unidirectional) fiber-optic bus networks because it does not suffer from the distance and bandwidth limitations of round-robin-type access mechanisms. The authors develop this protocol further to make it easily implementable, by allowing it to be sensitive to changing load conditions. In particular, they provide and study various properties of a simple algorithm which stations execute independently by using channel feedback information. This results in a fully distributed control mechanism that continuously adjusts the station probabilities p/sub i/ at their proper levels as governed by the ordered traffic, where the p/sub i/ are parameters of the p/sub i/-persistent protocol.>