A chemical-inspired approach to design distributed rate controllers for packet networks

In computer networks, a Distributed Rate Controller (DRC) must quickly propagate changes of inflow rates and let participating sites converge to their admissible rate. In this paper we introduce a family of DRCs where controllers can be easily customized, and their performance and dynamics are strictly predictable. Borrowing from engineering methods in Chemistry, we show how to derive the deterministic mathematical model of the network flow. We also report on simulation and native experimental results that validate our theoretical approach.