This paper describes a new network device to be located in network edge nodes. The device can deal with congestion conditions that may arise when, for example, a home or SME customer requests too many simultaneous flows to be forwarded down a DSL link or other access technology. It provides a solution to guaranteeing certain flows that are forwarded along one or more congested links, by making others (typically the latest flow, or another flow selected because of policy reasons), the subject of focused packet discards. The functionality of the device is described, and results from a fast-track simulation model implementing a lightweight version of the device, developed in LISP, are presented here.
Thomas Dreibholz, Avril IJsselmuiden, John L. Adam