Optimal flow control allocation policies in communication networks with multiple message classes

Flow control is considered for M(>or=2) transmitting stations sending packets to a single receiver over a slotted time-multiplexed link. The optimal allocation problem is generalized to the case of nonidentical holding costs at the M transmitters. Qualitative properties of optimal discounted and time-average policies that reduce the computational complexity of the M-dimensional optimal flow control algorithm are derived. For M=2, a simple relationship between optimal allocations for states x and x+e/sub i/ (i=1,2) that leads to significant computational savings in the optimal algorithm is established. >