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# Leaky bucket concept

Leaky bucket is a flow-control mechanism designed to reduce the effect of the inevitable variability in input data streams as they are “injected” into communication networks.

The leaky bucket algorithm performs the following functions:

* It controls what the encoder can inject into the network.

* It prevents the data “bucket” from overflowing by automatically regulating the bit rates in the event that the encoder generates too much data or very complex data.

* It prevents “burstiness” in the input stream, ensuring a smooth, even data flow.

Leaky bucket algorithm