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Convergence, stability and robustness analysis of the OFEX controller for high-speed networks

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Abstract

The OFEX (Optimal and Fully EXplicit) rate controller is able to provide not only the optimal bandwidth allocation but also the fully explicit congestion signal to sources. It exercises link-wise proportional fairness and network-wise max-min fairness, which enables the controller to feed the congestion signal back from the most congested link, instead of using the networkwise proportional fairness which feeds back the congestion signal summed along a flow path. As a result, the OFEX controller overcomes the drawbacks of the relatively explicit controllers that 1) bias the multi-bottlenecked users in terms of their source sending rate and convergence speed, 2) are not adaptable to varying link bandwidth and 3) can potentially incur large queue size upon congestion. In this paper, we first prove that the OFEX controller can converge to its equilibrium at least as fast as a geometric series in a link. Then we analyze the system stability with time delay in a single bottleneck network and show that the OFEX controller can achieve local stability under certain conditions. Besides, the robustness analysis of the OFEX controller shows how the dynamics of link bandwidth may affect the revenue of a link. Finally, with the OPNET modeler, we evaluate the performances of the OFEX controller and verify its effectiveness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Jungang Liu & Oliver W. W. Yang

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  1. Jungang Liu
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  2. Oliver W. W. Yang
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Correspondence to Jungang Liu.

Additional information

This work was partially supported by a Research Discovery Grant (#RGPIN42878) and an Accelerated Grant from National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Jungang LIU received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Ottawa, Canada, in 2014. Currently, he is a telecommunication specialist in information technology industry. From 2002 to 2008, he was an electrical engineer and research assistant in China Academy of Railway Sciences, China. He was the recipient of the Ph.D. Admission Scholarship of University of Ottawa, and the 2011–2012 Ontario Graduate Scholarship. His main research interests include Internet traffic control, modeling and performance evaluation of computer networks, industrial process control, and automation.

Oliver W. W. YANG received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He is a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has worked for Northern Telecom Canada Ltd. and has done various consulting. He has served on the editorial board of IEEE Communication Magazine, and IEEE Communication Surveys & Tutorials, as well as an associate director of the OCIECE (Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Electrical and Computer Engineering). His research interests are in the modeling, analysis, and performance evaluation of computer communication networks, their protocols, services, and interconnection architectures. The CCNR Lab under his leadership has been working on various projects in the switch architecture, traffic control, traffic characterization, and other traffic engineering issues in both wireless and photonic networks, the results of which can be found in more than 400 technical papers. Dr. Yang is a senior member of the IEEE.

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Liu, J., Yang, O.W.W. Convergence, stability and robustness analysis of the OFEX controller for high-speed networks. Control Theory Technol. 14, 122–139 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-016-5034-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11768-016-5034-9

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