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Abstract

Reactive congestion control in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network where the network is formed by the interconnection of nodes each including a forward path for transfer of information from source to destination through the network and a return path for returning congestion control signals. Each source includes a modifiable issue rate unit which issues forward information signals at different rates for virtual channels in response to the presence and absence of congestion signals received on the return path. When congestion occurs, for example, a queue exceeds a threshold, a request is made to send congestion signals, in the form of backward explicit congestion notification (BECN) cells, back to the sources of the virtual channels currently submitting traffic to the queue. On receipt of a BECN cell on a particular virtual channel, a source reduces it transmission rate for the indicated virtual channel. If no BECN cells are received on a particular virtual channel for a certain period of time, a source may gradually restore its transmission rate. In order to reduce the number of congestion cells, a filter is provided for filtering requests for congestion signals. Fairness is promoted in the recovery of transmission rates using a rate recovery algorithm that increases slower rate transmitters faster than higher rate transmitters.

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