A short tutorial on network calculus. II. Min-plus system theory applied to communication networks

Abstract

For pt. I see ibid., vol.4, p.93-6 (May 2000). We model some queuing systems arising in guaranteed service networks (such as RSVP/IP or ATM) as nonlinear min-plus systems that can be bounded by linear systems. We apply this method to the window flow control problem previously studied by Chang (1997), Agrawal and Rajan (1996), to the optimal smoothing of video through a network offering guaranteed service. We revisit the greedy shaper, and we also show how the same method enables us to compute the losses in a shaper by modelling it as a linear min-plus system. Finally, we describe the time-varying shaper.