Cross-layer Analysis of Transport Control Protocols over IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks

In this paper we provide cross-layer analysis of the impact of mobility and Medium Access Control parameters in IEEE 802.11 wireless network on TCP. Performances of the Internet transport protocols may significantly degrade when end to end connection includes wireless links where packets delays and losses are caused by mobility and transmission errors. We perform analysis of the achievable throughput for different TCP versions, including TCP Tahoe, TCP Reno, TCP New Reno, TCP Vegas and TCP SACK, in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. The analysis showed that the impact of Medium Access Control parameters, such as number of retransmissions and interface queue length in 802.11 networks on the obtained throughput, is stronger for terminals with higher mobility. Also, the analysis contributed to detection of the most appropriate TCP protocols for different mobility of the users in IEEE 802.11 networks.

[1]  FloydSally,et al.  Simulation-based comparisons of Tahoe, Reno and SACK TCP , 1996 .

[2]  Mario Gerla,et al.  TCP performance in wireless multi-hop networks , 1999, Proceedings WMCSA'99. Second IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications.

[3]  Michele Garetto,et al.  Improving TCP over wireless by selectively protecting packet transmissions , 2002, 4th International Workshop on Mobile and Wireless Communications Network.

[4]  Giovanni Pau,et al.  Wireless home entertainment center: reducing last hop delays for real-time applications , 2006, ACE '06.

[5]  Pavel V. Nikitin,et al.  TCP performance in mobile wireless environment : channel modelling and network simulation , 2002 .

[6]  Kaveh Pahlavan,et al.  Trends in local wireless networks , 1995 .

[7]  V. Jacobson,et al.  Congestion avoidance and control , 1988, SIGCOMM '88.

[8]  Sahin Albayrak,et al.  Improving TCP Goodput in 802.11 Access Networks , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Communications.

[9]  Shugong Xu,et al.  Does the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol work well in multihop wireless ad hoc networks? , 2001, IEEE Commun. Mag..

[10]  W. Richard Stevens,et al.  TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols , 1994 .

[11]  Adaptation of transport protocols for an IP-micromobility scheme , 2001, ICC 2001. IEEE International Conference on Communications. Conference Record (Cat. No.01CH37240).

[12]  Jean C. Walrand,et al.  Analysis and comparison of TCP Reno and Vegas , 1999, IEEE INFOCOM '99. Conference on Computer Communications. Proceedings. Eighteenth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies. The Future is Now (Cat. No.99CH36320).

[13]  Sally Floyd,et al.  Simulation-based comparisons of Tahoe, Reno and SACK TCP , 1996, CCRV.

[14]  Nitin H. Vaidya,et al.  Analysis of TCP Performance over Mobile Ad Hoc Networks , 1999, Wirel. Networks.