Design of Interconnection of Local Area Networks

This paper addresses the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) using bridges. The interconnec-tion problem is dicult to solve and feasible solutions are usually obtained through heuristics. The description of a simplified approach to solve the problem of interconnecting LANs is followed by the formulation of the problem and the development of a Lagrangean relaxation. A Tabu search metaheur-istic for designing minimum cost spanning tree topologies is also presented. Computational results are given for the interconnection of up to ten local area networks. # 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of IFORS. All rights reserved Key words: Topological design, telecommunication networks, local area networks