The token ring has several advantages over other networks, especially under a heavy load. However, Bux and Grillo showed that all desirable characteristics of IEEE 802.2 and 802.5 protocols for a single token ring are severely degraded in an interconnected token ring network. In order to address the problem, Bux and Grillo suggested a method of dynamically adjusting the size of windows depending on the traffic of a network. In this thesis, a different method of addressing the problem was proposed. The proposed method is to add a secondary transmission link to the backbone ring of a network to form a double linked backbone ring network.

Simulation results show that the most influential element contributing to the degradation of performance is congestion at the bridges in a network. The processing speed of bridges for the proposed double linked backbone ring network is essentially double that of the original network. The increased processing speed of the bridges enhances the performance of the network. Experimental results for the utilization, throughput and response time of the original network and the proposed double linked backbone ring are presented: