Feedback Consolidation Algorithms for ABR Point-to-Multipoint Connections in ATM Networks

TL;DR

This paper reviews and proposes new feedback consolidation algorithms for ABR point-to-multipoint connections in ATM networks, aiming to improve congestion control by reducing noise and enhancing response speed.

Contribution

It introduces novel algorithms for feedback consolidation in ABR multicast, compares their performance with existing methods, and discusses various design and implementation options.

Findings

Proposed algorithms eliminate feedback noise caused by premature responses.

New algorithms exhibit faster transient response.

Performance comparisons show improvements over previous methods.

Abstract

ABR traffic management for point-to-multipoint connections controls the source rate to the minimum rate supported by all the branches of the multicast tree. A number of algorithms have been developed for extending ABR congestion avoidance algorithms to perform feedback consolidation at the branch points. This paper discusses various design options and implementation alternatives for the consolidation algorithms, and proposes a number of new algorithms. The performance of the proposed algorithms and the previous algorithms is compared under a variety of conditions. Results indicate that the algorithms we propose eliminate the consolidation noise (caused if the feedback is returned before all branches respond), while exhibiting a fast transient response.