Resequencing analysis of stop-and-wait ARQ for parallel multichannel communications

In this paper, we consider a multichannel data communication system in which the stop-and-wait automatic-repeat-request protocol for parallel channels with an in-sequence delivery guarantee (MSW-ARQ-inS) is used for error control. We evaluate the resequencing delay and the resequencing buffer occupancy, respectively. Under the assumption that all channels have the same transmission rate but possibly different time-invariant error rates, we derive the probability generating function of the resequencing buffer occupancy and the probability mass function of the resequencing delay. Then, by assuming the Gilbert-Elliott model for each channel, we extend our analysis to time-varying channels. Through examples, we compute the probability mass functions of the resequencing buffer occupancy and the resequencing delay for time-invariant channels. From numerical and simulation results, we analyze trends in the mean resequencing buffer occupancy and the mean resequencing delay as functions of system parameters. We expect that the modeling technique and analytical approach used in this paper can be applied to the performance evaluation of other ARQ protocols (e.g., the selective-repeat ARQ) over multiple time-varying channels.