A fundamental property for traffic management in ATM networks

It is desirable that the traffic control policy at a network node depend on the external traffic loads on the input and output links, but not on the detailed addressing or distribution of packets from inputs to outputs. It should be possible to guarantee the grade of service of an input-output connection by controlling the aggregate loads on the input and output. Switch nodes in which such a traffic control policy is possible are said to have the property of the sufficiency of the knowledge of external loads (SKEL). The authors clarify issues related to SKEL and establish its feasibility for a generic switch node on a rigorous basis.<>