TCP ACK Pacing in ATM networks

Abstract

An important concern in today's networks is the performance of the TCP/IP transport protocol. Since studies have shown that TCPs throughput and fairness levels can be low in various network scenarios, it is necessary to devise efficient, robust schemes to enhance its performance. Although changes to the protocol's functionality itself are being considered, this may not be a feasible alternative in the short-to-medium term. Recently, various ACK pacing algorithms have been developed for ATM environments and initial findings indicate significant overall benefits. Nevertheless, the performance of such schemes under dynamic link conditions arising from heterogeneous (interfering) traffic profiles needs to be studied. Here, the performance of a robust ACK pacing scheme is analysed under such conditions. Results for a wide range of network scenarios show significantly improved fairness levels and reduced buffer size requirements, even under very challenging conditions.