Improving Performance of Active Queue Management at the Internet Gateway

AQM attempts to achieve high network utilization with low loss and delay by regulating queues at bottleneck links to provide useful feedback to TCP sources. While many AQM algorithms have been proposed, most suffer from instability, require careful configuration of non-intuitive control parameters, or are not practical because of slow response to dynamic traffic changes. In this paper, we introduce a new AQM algorithm, Hybrid RED (HRED), that combines the more effective elements of recent algorithms with a RED core. Through simulations in various network environments, we demonstrate that HRED has stable operation under steady load and rapid adaptation to changes in load outperforming earlier AQM algorithms.