Correctness and performance of the ATM ABR rate control scheme

Abstract

We study both correctness and performance of the source/destination protocols of the available bit rate (ABR) service in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. Although the basic protocol for rate-based congestion management is relatively simple, the protocol specification has to cope with several “real-world” cases such as failures and delayed/lost feedback which introduce complexity. Rigorous proof of the correct functioning of the protocol based on a formal specification is necessary. We use a formal model to show that the ABR source/destination protocol is free of livelocks, so that under all conditions both resource management (RM) and data cells will be transmitted. Furthermore, if there are data cells available, then the ABR protocol is deadlock free; otherwise, the system goes to a desirable sleep state waiting for data cells, as long as certain parameters are set appropriately at connection setup. We also show that the network options of explicit forward congestion indication (EFCI) and explicit rate (ER) interoperate correctly. In addition to ensuring the correct functioning of the protocol, it is essential that pathological situations do not result in very poor performance, which we view as another form of “incorrect operation”. We derive conditions that ensure that the source's allowed cell rate (ACR) is stable in the presence of delayed or lost feedback RM cells. We arrive at bounds on the number of consecutive RM cell losses tolerated while the ACR rate remains stable. We also provide an asymptotic estimate of ACR and the allowable RM cell loss probability to ensure that ACR is stable, statistically. The ABR protocol contributes to the feedback delay in two ways: the source delay of sending out the probe forward RM (FRM) cells and the destination delay of turning around the backward RM (BRM) cell. We provide a worst-case analysis of the delay in turning around RM cells at the destination station and the worst-case inter-departure time of FRM cells from the source.