Metastable Regimes for multiplexed TCP flows

Consider the mean field limit of a model for multiple HTTP sources multiplexed through a drop-tail router. The limit may exhibit two stationary regimes. In the fluid regime the flows are independent, there are no packet losses and the average throughput is high. In the turbulent regime the flows are synchronized, there are periodic congestion epochs with packet losses and the average throughput is reduced. In the prelimit with a finite number of sources the above regimes become metastable in the sense that we observe periodic fluctuations between the fluid and turbulent regimes. This paper outlines a general framework for describing these metastable regimes.