TCP-M: Multiflow transmission control protocol for Ad Hoc networks

Abstract

Recent research has indicated that transmission control protocol (TCP) in its base form does not perform well in an ad hoc environment. The main reason identified for this behavior involves the ad hoc network dynamics. By nature, an ad hoc network does not support any form of quality of service. The reduction in congestion window size during packet drops, a property of the TCP used to ensure guaranteed delivery, further deteriorates the overall performance. While other researchers have proposed modifying congestion window properties to improve TCP performance in an ad hoc environment, the authors of this paper propose using multiple TCP flows per connection. The proposed protocol reduces the influence of packet drops that occurred in any single path on the overall system performance. The analysis carried out by the authors indicates a significant improvement in overall performance.