Optimal Hop-by-Hop Flow Control in Computer Networks

The problem of hop-by-hop flow control in a computer network is formulated as a Markov decision process with a cost function composed of the delay of the messages and the buffer constraints. The optimal control is shown to be a linear truncated function of the state and the explicit form is found when the arrival process of the messages is a Bernoulli process. for a renewal arrival process, the long-run average cost of any policy with a linear truncated structure is expressed by a set of linear equations.