An integrated dynamic resource allocation scheme for ATM networks

Dynamic bandwidth allocation among traffic classes with different performance requirements sharing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) link is considered as an integrated control problem with a multilevel structure. At the lower level, call admission control rules are applied that maintain a certain grade of service, in terms of cell loss probability and cell delay, given the buffer space and bandwidth assigned to each class; unlike those used in previous works, these rules are derived on the basis of homogeneous (based on similar quantities) measures of the performance requirements. At the higher level, bandwidth shares are periodically recomputed online by an allocation controller, whose goals reflect overall cell loss and refused traffic, as well as overall average delay. These goals are expressed by an optimization problem that is solved by numerical techniques. The whole control system should provide a dynamic feedback controller, capable of reacting in real time to changes in the traffic patterns. Simulation results are presented and are discussed in regard to the efficiency of the admission controllers, the performance of the overall scheme, and the capability of reacting to sudden changes in the load of some traffic class