A Study on Rate-Based Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (R-M/TCP) Using Packet Scheduling Algorithm

We have proposed Rate-based Multi-path Transmission Control Protocol (R-M/TCP) for improving reliability and performance of data transfer over the Internet by using multiple paths. Congestion control in R-M/TCP is performed in a rate-based and loss-avoidance manner. It attempts to estimate the available bandwidth and the queue length of the used routes in order to fully utilize the bandwidth resources. However, it has been reported that when the used routes' characteristics, i.e. available bandwidth and delay, are much different, R-M/TCP cannot achieve the desired throughput from the routes. This is because R-M/TCP originally transmits data packets in a round-robin manner through the routes. In this paper, therefore, we propose R-M/TCP using Packet Scheduling Algorithm (PSA). Instead of using the round-robin manner, R-M/TCP utilizes PSA that accounts for time-varying bandwidth and delay of each path so that number of data packets arriving in out-of-order at the receiver can be minimized and the desired throughput can be achieved. Quantitative simulations are conducted to show effectiveness of R-M/TCP using PSA.