Abstract: Future computer network will become a high speed packet switched network that will be able to provide various services so as to support a wide range of network applications. Design of an effective congestion control scheme is critical to the enhancement of the network performance. In addition, design of rate regulating algorithms directly affects the effects of the scheme. In this paper, we start by taking the related ATM networks researches as background. Then, we systematically analyze and discuss the components of congestion control scheme and the methods of the design of the algorithms from the control-theoretic point of view for the first time. Meanwhile, we describe the principes and compare the similarities and differences of some main algorithms that are proposed in the literatures. We also discuss the internal relationships between these algorithms and analyze their performance characteristics. At the end of this paper, we propose some new researches that are believed to be of great research value.