Dynamic Internet Congestion with Bursts

Abstract. This paper studies throughput maximization in networks with dynamically changing congestion. First, we give a new and simple analysis of an existing model where the bandwidth available to a flow varies multiplicatively over time. The main contribution however is the introduction of a novel model for dynamics based on concepts of network calculus. This model features a limited form of amortization: After quiet times where the available bandwidth was roughly constant, the congestion may change more abruptly. We present a competitive algorithm for this model and also derive a lower bound.