Abstract

This paper presents a steady-state analysis of rate-based flow control operating with the regular window mechanism of the transport protocol in ATM local area network (LAN) or local high-speed network environments. The rate control schemes are divided into single-threshold and two-threshold cases. By applying Norton's theorem for queuing model simplification and deriving a computation algorithm, the analytical results for steady-state performance of these schemes are found to be computationally efficient and yield accurate approximations. In the numerical results, the rate control schemes have been shown to have significant effects in reducing congestion levels at the receiving entity as well as in the high-speed networks. We also conclude that the two-threshold rate control scheme can be more effective in alleviating network congestion conditions than single-threshold control, while keeping the control overhead (in terms of the rate adjustment frequency) at a low level, provided that threshold values are selected appropriately. The total throughput could be affected, but only in a limited fashion.

Author Keywords: ATM; Rate Control; LAN

Index Terms: Local area networks; Asynchronous transfer mode; Network protocols; Queueing theory; Mathematical models; Algorithms; Approximation theory; Congestion control (communication); System stability; Steady state analysis; Rate based flow control; Norton''s theorem; High speed networks

¹Present address: Electrical Engineering Department, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Fax: +886 2 755 1982; e-mail: chiu@eagle.ntu.edu.tw