An adaptive congestion control mechanism for intelligent broadband networks

The provision of novel multimedia services in broadband networks through in telligent network (IN) technology is a promising solution that guarantees f ast deployment of new services and minimum changes to already operating net works. In this architecture, the broadband service control point (B-SCP) is the main actor in the processing of complex IN service requests. This cent ralized approach which is reflected in the multiplicity of tasks undertaken by the B-SCP in a broadband IN architecture, can easily lead to network pe rformance degradation. Therefore, the presence of a congestion control mech anism operating at the level of calls is considered essential in order to p rotect the network nodes from overload conditions and to attain high levels of network performance. In this paper, we propose an adaptive congestion c ontrol mechanism (ACCM) which is able to guarantee the desirable quality of service under overload conditions. The proposed mechanism gradually reduce s the message transmission rate from the source node to the destination nod e when overflow conditions have been detected, taking as feedback the buffe r capacity state of the destination. Results, obtained by simulation show t hat the proposed ACCM improves the network performance by maximising the nu mber of established calls and reducing the number of rejected calls. (C) 20 01 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.