Reinforcement of TCP error recovery for wireless communication

  • Authors:
  • Nihal K. G. Samaraweera;Godred Fairhurst

  • Affiliations:
  • Electronics Research Group, Department of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK;Electronics Research Group, Department of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review
  • Year:
  • 1998

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

When a wireless link forms a part of a network, the rate of packet loss due to link noise may be considerably higher than observed in a modern terrestrial network. This paper studies TCP performance over a range of link environments and highlights the advantage of recent modifications to TCP (e.g. SACK, New-Reno) for wireless communications. It also identifies two key issues which impact the performance of TCP over error prone links: TCP's reliance on timers to recover from a failed retransmission cycle, and TCP's inability to separate congestion packet loss from other types of packet loss. A solution to the first issue is identified and analysed by simulation, and the factors affecting the second issue are outlined.