Rate controls in standard transport layer protocols
Charles A. Eldridge · ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review · 1992
Flow control mechanisms in current datagram switching networks currently have several responsibilities, including avoiding congestion and avoiding overruns. In particular, networks and end-systems rely heavily upon the window mechanisms specified in current transport protocol standards such as TCP and TP4. These responsibilities will increase in future systems. This paper develops a connection model in order to assess the extent to which transport protocol data rates can be controlled using this available mechanism. Under very low delays, window-based flow control is not effective in slowing the rates at which a sender introduces data to the network or internetwork. Therefore, direct rate controls will be needed to enforce policies or to optimize performance across a variety of users and media.