APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR NETWORK CAPACITY EVALUATION AND PLANNING

Network capacity evaluation and planning is performed based upon the traffic across the links of the network. Once a link's traffic volume has been measured, it is compared with the link's traffic capability, and the resulting parameters compared with the traffic and capability of other links of the network to create measures of network capacity and balance. Then, simulated changes to the network configuration may be made by substituting simulated traffic volume amounts and capabilities for selected link traffic measurements and capabilities, and the resulting measures of network capacity and balance may then be compared to determine whether the simulated changes represent a preferred network configuration.