Asymptotic stability of congestion control systems with multiple sources

Congestion in computer networks is the main reason for reduced performance and poor quality of service; therefore, a good congestion control system is essential. The basic property of any control system is stability. We consider the problem of stability in computer network congestion control systems with multiple sources, which is the most common case in general purpose computer networks, e.g., the Internet. The main result of the paper is the proof that for most congestion control systems (including TCP and ATM-ABR), the stability of the congestion control system with a single source is equivalent to the stability of the one with multiple sources. The proof is based on a well known necessary and sufficient stability test.