Analysis of the ARB (adaptive rate based) congestion avoidance algorithm
Damien Artiges · 2002
The ARB (adaptive rate based) algorithm is a congestion control mechanism developed by IBM, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. ARB is a distributed algorithm based on the periodic exchange of information between the two end points of a connection. The sender uses the feedback, in particular a delay estimation, to detect approaching congestion and regulate the input traffic accordingly. We define a discrete time Markov chain modeling a simple network controlled by the ARB algorithm. We show that the sending rate and the queue length are bounded, and we establish the geometric convergence of the system toward steady-state behavior.