Stability Properties of Networks with Interacting TCP Flows

Abstract: The equilibrium distributions of a Markovian model describing the interaction of several classes of permanent connections in a network are analyzed. It has been introduced by Graham and Robert. For this model each of the connections has a self-adaptive behavior in that its transmission rate along its route depends on the level of congestion of the nodes on its route. It has been shown that the invariant distributions are determined by the solutions of a fixed point equation in a finite dimensional space. In this paper, several examples of these fixed point equations are studied. The topologies investigated are rings, trees and a linear network, with various sets of routes through the nodes.