Hierarchical Schemes for Adaptive Routing and Flow Control in Large Computer Networks

Recent advances in the general theory of multivariable and large-scale systems have contributed to the development of hierarchical control schemes where the overall decision-making task is distributed over a number of hierarchical levels. Use of such a hierarchical framework for the design of control schemes at the transport level in large computer communication networks can result in several beneficial features such as information aggregation for reduction in data storage requirements, capability of handling multiple objective functions in performance optimization, better adaptivity to variations in load and network topology and possibility of integrating routing and flow control functions for a more efficient control of traffic congestion. This paper outlines the development of two hierarchical schemes for routing and flow control that have recently been developed within such a framework.