The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Clustering algorithm for local area network design in a CIM environment
Author:	Manjunath, A. C.
View Online:	njit-etd1992-094 (x, 71 pages ~ 2.2 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Industrial Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Das, Sanchoy K. (Committee chair) Bengu, Golgen (Committee member) Chao, Xiuli (Committee member)
Date:	1992-05
Keywords:	Local area networks (Computer networks) -- Design and construction Computer integrated manufacturing systems Algorithms Cluster analysis
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Communication systems have come to be regarded as being one of the most important aspects in manufacturing enterprises in recent years. It continues to offer enormous potential for improving the efficiency of manufacturing enterprises through Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). It is true however that this potential cannot be realized by developments on the communications front alone. Strategic and economic considerations in installing a communications system in a manufacturing environment is of vital significance. This thesis, at the outset attempts to bring out some of the issues in the area of communications (research), specifically in relation to CIM. A perception of prior research to some of these issues has been provided. The main focus of this thesis is placed on developing a methodology for designing an optimal flow local area network (LAN) for a CIM communications system using analytical models for resource allocation. A new representation of information flow load among the various nodes in a network is conceived which helps to determine an optimal communication traffic matrix. A decision logic to generate a system architecture based on the above information flow is designed. The various factors and variables involved in a communication network are identified. For the purpose of this study however, the most critical variables /factors of these are considered. Definitions of the various terminologies associated with these factors are provided. Experimentations are performed using the simulation approach. The main objective of this study is to help LAN designers to suggest effective configurations of the nodes to be networked so that the installation costs and propagation delays are reduced.