Discrete-Time Sliding-Mode Congestion Control in Multisource Communication Networks With Time-Varying Delay

• Published in: IEEE transactions on control systems technology Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 852 - 867
• Main Authors: Ignaciuk, P, Bartoszewicz, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.2011; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Bandwidth; Communication networks; Communication system control; Communications networks; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Congestion; Congestion control; Control system synthesis; Control systems; Control theory. Systems; Delay; discrete-time systems; Exact sciences and technology; Exact solutions; Feedback loop; Fluctuations; Networks; Obstacles; Process control; Process control. Computer integrated manufacturing; Robust control; Sliding mode control; Software; Studies; time-varying delay; discrete-time systems; Obstacle; Sliding mode; Delay control; Feedback regulation; Control synthesis; Data transmission; Congestion control; Modeling; Delay; Time varying system; Bandwidth; Quadratic cost; Mathematical programming; sliding-mode control; time-varying delay; Packet switching; Variable structure control; Network flow; Process control; Delay system; Communication network; Exact solution; Traffic management; Discrete time; Distributed control; Problem solving; Traffic congestion; Quadratic functional
• ISSN: 1063-6536; 1558-0865
• DOI: 10.1109/TCST.2010.2056690

This paper addresses the problem of congestion control in communication networks from a control-theoretic perspective. In this type of complex, dynamical systems, the primary obstacle in the design of efficient control is the delay in the feedback loop which may be subject to significant fluctuations during the control process. This paper presents a new approach to solving the congestion problem in multisource networks, in which each flow is characterized by different and time-varying delay, with the application of discrete-time sliding-mode control. The proposed controller, operating at a network node, guarantees that in the considered networks the packet losses are eliminated and all of the available bandwidth at the node output interface is used for the data transfer. The controller is demonstrated to be robust with respect to the abrupt and unpredictable changes of networking conditions, such as delay and bandwidth variations, which need not be correlated with each other. The controller parameters are selected by minimizing a quadratic cost functional. A closed-form solution of the optimization problem allows for a straightforward and operationally efficient implementation of the proposed congestion control strategy in real network nodes.