Source control and shaping in ATM networks

The authors propose a shaper function whose main purpose is to enable the user to offer the network a traffic with guaranteed parameters, which can be easily policed. The shaping function is obtained by a sliding window mechanism, aimed at controlling the average traffic over a given time interval, and the peak bit rate reduction mechanism, which smooths the traffic by forcing an assigned peak bit rate. The shaping function is effective only if the user can tolerate an additional delay, which is the case for most applications. The behavior of this delay as function of the shaper parameters has been investigated. Analysis of the numerical results suggests guidelines for the optimal choice of the shaper parameters and outlines the procedure to be followed at the call set up for a given application. The results obtained indicate that this shaping approach provides a valid solution for the source control problem, simplifies the usage parameter control (policing), and allows effective bandwidth assignment