In earlier work, a new mechanism was introduced that belongs to the class o
f feedback control schemes which ensure no data losses and operate based on
simple 'stop' and 'start' signals. This algorithm can operate with the the
oretically smallest possible buffer size and it also has the capability of
controlling the amount of overhead generated by the protocol signals. In th
e present paper, an analytical performance study of the minimal and maximal
overheads as well as the corresponding throughputs is presented. The resul
ts obtained demonstrate the impact of the distance and other relevant param
eters. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.