Patent ID: 7254609

Claim:
A method for managing data traffic in a multiple-user environment having true random access with more than one transmission present simultaneously, the method comprising the steps of: estimating channel load of multiple users at multiple terminals in multiple simultaneous accesses; calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load; selecting a current congestion threshold value; then at each said terminal, performing an experiment comparing the current congestion threshold value with a random number from a random number generator to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; throttling random transmission of packets according to said transmission value so that a transmitted load from all said terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the current congestion threshold value times an offered load offered to the terminal; and wherein said estimate of channel load is probability of access and the current congestion threshold value is related to probability of a globally successful transmission of a number of simultaneously transmitted packets.