OVERLOAD CONTROL METHOD FOR A PACKET-SWITCHED NETWORK

摘要

The invention relates to a method for controlling overload in a packet-switched network, especially a mobile or wireless network where the transmission control protocol (TCP) is used as the transport layer protocol. A congestion notification information is added to a data packet following a data packet lost due to a buffer overflow. This is an effective way to improve TCP performance in wireless and mobile networks, since congestion control can be performed completely independent from retransmissions. The proposed mechanism provides a simple way of introducing TCP congestion avoidance control strategies into wireless and mobile networks. In addition, the congestion notification information should be added at least not later than a threshold number of following packets to thereby fasten the rate of congestion control initiation and loss recovery due to congestion.