ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a fundamental approach of network utility maximization (NUM) for bandwidth allocation and congestion control in computer networks including the Internet. Protocol design for various functionalities within communication network architecture, either for wire-lined networks or for wireless networks, can be viewed as a distributed or centralized resource allocation problem. This involves understanding what resources are, how to allocate them fairly, and perhaps most importantly, how to achieve this goal in a distributed or a centralized and stable fashion. A NUM model leads us to find the centralized or distributed solution for congestion control, routing, and scheduling in wired and wireless networks. These controllers are the analytical equivalent of protocols in use on the Internet today and some existing protocols as realizations of such controllers. NUM theory has comprehensively motivated the current flow control approaches, which establish the methodologies of congestion controlling and resource competing mechanism, both for the wire-lined and wireless network architectures.
