A Two-Time Scale Design for Detection and Rectification of Uncooperative Network Flows

Existing Internet protocols rely on cooperative behavior of end users. We present a control-theoretic algorithm to counteract uncooperative users which change their congestion control schemes to gain larger bandwidth. This algorithm rectifies uncooperative users; that is, forces them to comply with their fair share, by adjusting the prices fed back to them. It is to be implemented at the edge of the network (e.g. by ISPs), and can be used with any congestion notification policy deployed by the network. Our design achieves a separation of time-scales between the network congestion feedback loop and the price-adjustment loop, thus recovering the fair allocation of bandwidth upon a fast transient phase.