Este trabajo ha sido subvencionado bajo contrato con la CAICYT no. 2906/83

This paper analyses the behaviour of a normal buffered delta network and as a result proposes the use of a shared queue instead of the two queues of the usual switching elements. The performance of the networks with the two kinds of switching elements is evaluated by using simulation and by developing a numerical model for the shared queue switch. Results show thet the use of a shared queue allows to reduce the storage capacity of the switch without loosing throughput. Moreover, the mean service time is also reduced.