UNDERSTANDING CONGESTION CONTROL ALGORITHMS IN TCP USING OPNET

Simulation is a widespread procedure for testing and understanding real systems. Internet has a great impact in our society. Everyone wants fast and reliable links. But there are situations when congestion happens because the network delay and the number of users fluctuate from one moment to the next. There are different approaches for dealing with congestion: classics (such as drop tail or RED) or process control techniques (PID, fuzzy or predictive control among others). Future engineers need to learn about this topic. It seems logical to simulate this problem, but, should all the different techniques be implemented? Or should the students learn how to program some mechanisms? The answer is neither unique nor easy. This paper presents a combined approach of ready and self-programmed methods combined with tutorials using OPNET.