TCP over wireless multi-hop protocols: simulation and experiments
- 20 January 2003
- conference paper
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Vol. 2, 1089-1094 vol.2
- https://doi.org/10.1109/icc.1999.765450
Abstract
In this study we investigate the interaction between TCP and MAC layer in a wireless multi-hop network. This type of network has traditionally found applications in the military (automated battlefield), law enforcement (search and rescue) and disaster recovery (flood, earthquake), where there is no fixed wired infrastructure. Wireless "ad-hoc" multi-hop networks have previously been proposed for nomadic computing applications. Key requirements in all the above applications are reliable data transfer and congestion control, features that are generally supported by TCP. Unfortunately, TCP performs on wireless in a much less predictable way than on wired protocols. Using simulation, we provide new insight into two critical problems of TCP over wireless multi-hop. The first is the conflict between data packets and ACKs, which causes TCP performance to degrade for window sizes greater than 1 packet. The second is the interaction between MAC and TCP layer backoff timers which causes severe unfairness and capture conditions. In the paper, we identify these problems in several representative simulation runs on various topologies and traffic patterns and indicate possible remedies to improve TCP efficiency over a wireless multi-hop network.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Distributed simulation of large-scale PCS networksPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2002
- GloMoSim: a library for parallel simulation of large-scale wireless networksPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2002
- TCP behavior with many flowsPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2002
- Tolerant synchronization for distributed simulations of interconnected computer networksPublished by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ,2002
- Improving reliable transport and handoff performance in cellular wireless networksWireless Networks, 1995
- Floor acquisition multiple access (FAMA) for packet-radio networksACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 1995
- Multicluster, mobile, multimedia radio networkWireless Networks, 1995
- Mobile wireless network system simulationPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1995
- MACAWPublished by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) ,1994
- The DARPA packet radio network protocolsProceedings of the IEEE, 1987