Flow Control

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Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
Flow Control

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Flow Control

Flow Control TCP manages limited network bandwidth by performing flow control.

Modern data networks are designed to support a diverse range of hosts and communication mediums. Consider a 200MHz Pentium-based host transmitting data to a 25MHz 80386/SX. Obviously, the Pentium will be able to drown the slower processor with data. Likewise, consider two hosts, each using an Ethernet LAN, but with the two Ethernets connected by a 28.8 Kbps modem link. If one host begins transmitting to the other at Ethernet speeds, the modem link will quickly become overwhelmed. In both cases, flow control is needed to pace the data transfer at an acceptable speed.

Request/reply flow control requires each data packet to be acknowledge by the remote host before the next packet is sent. Sliding window algorithms, used by TCP, permit multiple data packets to be in simultaneous transit, making more efficient use of network bandwidth. Finally, Internet's Unreliable Delivery Model allows packets to be discarded if network resources are not available, and demands that protocols make provisions for retransmission.

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Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
Flow Control