tcp: allow dctcp alpha to drop to zero

If alpha is strictly reduced by alpha >> dctcp_shift_g and if alpha is less
than 1 << dctcp_shift_g, then alpha may never reach zero. For example,
given shift_g=4 and alpha=15, alpha >> dctcp_shift_g yields 0 and alpha
remains 15. The effect isn't noticeable in this case below cwnd=137, but
could gradually drive uncongested flows with leftover alpha down to
cwnd=137. A larger dctcp_shift_g would have a greater effect.

This change causes alpha=15 to drop to 0 instead of being decrementing by 1
as it would when alpha=16. However, it requires one less conditional to
implement since it doesn't have to guard against subtracting 1 from 0U. A
decay of 15 is not unreasonable since an equal or greater amount occurs at
alpha >= 240.

Signed-off-by: Andrew G. Shewmaker <agshew@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Florian Westphal <fw@strlen.de>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>
1 file changed