MATHEMATICS COLLOQUIUM

 WHEN:
On Thursday, Novewmber 01, 2001 at 2.30PM
NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE!!!

WHERE:
Durham Science Center, Room 255

WHAT:

Ken Dick

Computer Science Department
University of Nebraska at Omaha,

will give a talk on

The Role of Statistical Distributions in the History of Telephony

Abstract:
The engineering of large networks have been based on statistical models. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is a circuit-based network based on a five-tier hierarchy of star networks. The model for how to engineer these networks bares the name of the statistician who first put it together, the Erlang. This model has faithfully been used for decades. It has proved accurate and reliable. The problem is now we have moved from a network that was predominantly circuit switched to a network that is packet switched. This has raised the complexity of engineering. That traffic on the network is no longer defined as a number of calls, but by such esoteric terms such as interarrival times and packet size. This presentation will look at various distributions and their appropriateness of fit. Who knows, maybe the successor to the Erlang will come from this meeting of the minds.