QoS based ABR service under the PF based flow control scheme

A new feedback based flow control scheme (proactive feedback) is introduced which can deliver better QoS to ABR applications than under the classical schemes, as well as guarantee a predefined level of QoS by setting properly the link utilization factor. The proactive feedback based flow control scheme can eliminate the reaction time of the ABR source rate adjustments to the network bandwidth usage changes through cooperation between the VBR sources and the network nodes. In addition to supporting ´stringent´ ABR applications, the PF scheme can also support UBR applications and/or co-exist with classical schemes supporting ´less stringent´ (or standard) ABR applications.