Patent ID: 8289851

Claim:
A method for controlling admission of new flows at a node in a network of nodes interconnected by links, the method comprising: (a) for each of a plurality of incoming packets arriving at the node, each incoming packet corresponding to an active flow traversing the node: (a1) randomly selecting a packet from an output buffer of the node; (a2) determining whether the incoming packet is from the same active flow as the randomly-selected packet; and (a3) updating an estimate of the number of active flows traversing the node based on the determination of step (a2); and (b) determining whether to admit or drop part or all of a new flow at the node based on the estimated number of active flows traversing the node, wherein step (b) comprises: (b1) calculating a drop probability p d using the equation p d = N est - N m â¢ â¢ i â¢ â¢ n N m â¢ â¢ a â¢ â¢ x - N m â¢ â¢ i â¢ â¢ n , â¢ wherein: N est represents the estimated number of active flows at the node; and N min and N max represent lower and upper bounds, respectively, on the number of flows at the node; and (b2) determining whether to admit or drop part or all of the new flow at the node based on the drop probability p d .