METHOD OF CONGESTION CONTROL FOR WIRELESS MESSAGING SYSTEMS

The present invention provides a method for congestion control at multiple levels in a wireless messaging system. Unlike previous systems that only responded to congestion in one way, the present invention responds to each incoming message packet to a receiving component with a reply that indicates: (1) whether or not the message packet has been accepted; (2) the level or function at which the congestion is occurring for rejected message packets; and (3) a specific delay time that the sender should wait before sending the next message packet. The delay time may be varied in order to control the rate of information flow. In this way, if an area becomes congested and then clears, a "slow start" technique may be used; that is, the rate can be turned back up slowly rather than just "opening the floodgates." Temporary congestion queues in the sender are used to hold message packets addressed to congested areas.