Survey of techniques for prevention and control of congestion in an ATM network

Some of the congestion control methods commonly considered to be suitable for an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) network are reviewed. Attention is given to issues such as characteristics of bursty traffic, bandwidth allocation, call admission, and rate control schemes. The high processing speed changes the focus of network design from bandwidth efficiency to processing efficiency. It also moves the focus from feedback control to a preventive forward control. It is concluded that the schemes that are most likely to succeed in ATM emphasize congestion prevention (such as call admittance, bandwidth policing, and rate control) over reactive congestion control based on feedback.>