Improving Network Performane - Management of Nonlinear Dynamics

Abstract

To manage the huge amount of traffic that is to be carried using the limited bandwidth and other resources, large networks and the Internet are heavily dependent on the use of protocols, and in particular, on TCP/IP protocol suite. While the utilization of TCP/IP is of significant practical value, for most large complex networks it can be inefficient, as it fails to fully take into consideration the importance of the major parts of the system. To overcome this, more complicated congestion control mechanisms, such as AQM/RED are widely utilized. However, these complex mechanisms exhibit nonlinear dynamics, which are not well understood and are usually unaccounted for. As a result of this, to avoid oscillatory behavior or loss of stability, the parameters of these systems are often set too conservatively. In turn, this will lead to unnecessary underutilization of the network resources. On the other hand, through the analysis and management of nonlinearities, the operability regions for the networked systems can be expanded, while its performance is also improved. This paper presents our visionary works of applying these ideas to networked systems, resulting in higher loading and throughput, and avoiding oscillatory or unstable behavior.