This paper considers the support of hard real-time connections in ATM networks. There are several approaches to managing the network resources in order to meet the delay requirements of connections. This paper focuses on the use of traffic regulation to achieve this objective.
Leaky buckets provide simple and user-programmable means of traffic regulation.
An efficient optimal algorithm for selecting the burst parameters of leaky buckets to meet connections' deadlines is designed and analyzed. The algorithm is optimal in the sense that it always selects a set of burst parameters whose mean value is minimal and by which the delay requirements of hard real-time connections can be met. The exponential size of the search space makes this problem a challenging one. The algorithm is efficient through systematically pruning the search space. There is an observed dramatic improvement in the system performance in terms of the connection admission probability when traffic is regulated using this algorithm.