On throughput stabilization of network transport

A number of network applications require stable transport throughput for tasks such as control and coordination operations over wide-area networks. We present a window-based method that achieves stable throughput at a target level by utilizing a variation of the classical Robbins-Monro stochastic approximation algorithm. We analytically show the stability of this method under very mild conditions on the network, which are justified by Internet measurements. Our User Datagram Protocol (UDP)-based implementation provides stable throughput over the Internet under various traffic conditions.