Myths about Congestion Management in High Speed Networks

TL;DR

This paper critically examines common misconceptions in high-speed network congestion management, highlighting the need for combining multiple control schemes rather than relying on a single approach.

Contribution

It clarifies misconceptions about congestion control strategies and advocates for integrated solutions tailored to specific network conditions.

Findings

Single congestion schemes are insufficient for effective management.

Different control strategies have specific advantages and limitations.

A combination of multiple schemes is necessary for comprehensive congestion control.

Abstract

Weaknesses in several recently proposed ideas about congestion control and avoidance in high-speed netwroks are identified. Both sides of the debate concerning prior reservation of resources versus walk-in service, open-loop control versus feedback control, rate control versus window control, and router-based control versus source-based control are presented. The circumstances under which backpressure is useful or not are discussed, and it is argued that a single congestion scheme is not sufficient, but that a combination of several schemes is required for complete congestion management in a network.