Explicit rate flow control for ABR services in ATM networks

We propose a novel explicit rate-flow-control algorithm intended for availa ble-bit-rate (ABR) service on an ATM network subject to loss and fairness c onstraints, The goal is to guarantee low cell loss in order to avoid throug hput collapse due to retransmission by higher level protocols. The mechanis m draws on measuring the current queue length and bandwidth availability, a s well as tracking the current number of active sessions contending for cap acity, to adjust an explicit bound on the source transmission rates. We ide ntify the factors that affect queue overflows and propose simple design rul es aimed at achieving transmission with controlled loss in a dynamic enviro nment, We also discuss how conservative design rules might be relaxed by ac counting for statistical multiplexing in bandwidth sharing among bursty ABR sources and variable-bit-rate (VBR) sources.