ABSTRACT
Just as Erlang's model is the basic model of circuit-switched communication, the Anick-Mitra-Sondhi model (AMS model) is the basic model of packet-based communication. This chapter examines the simplest model in detail: sources have only two states, called "on" and "off." It also examines one case of more complex sources, and the effects of various types of controls on the statistics of the buffer. Certain limiting cases (large and small buffers) to get both analytic formulas and a feel for how the solutions depend on the various parameters of the models are also examined. The chapter then summarizes the results established concerning the solution of the Lagrange variational problem. The Simple Source Model is the model studied extensively by Anick, Mitra and Sondhi [AMS], Kosten [Ko] and others. Because it is the simplest it is simultaneously the model about which we can say the most, and which is the least realistic.
