A Cross-Layer Approach for Per-Station Fairness in TCP over WLANs

In this paper, we investigate the issue of per-station fairness in TCP over IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless local area networks (WLANs), especially in Wi-Fi hot spot. It is asserted that the hot spot suffers from the unfairness among stations in exploiting the wireless medium. The source of this unfairness is analyzed from two aspects, TCP-induced asymmetry and MAC-induced asymmetry; the former causes TCP congestion control with a cumulative acknowledgment mechanism to prefer the sending stations to receiving stations, while the later exacerbates the unfairness problem in the hot spots. We investigate the interaction between TCP congestion control and MAC contention control, and propose a cross-layer feedback approach to assure per-station fairness and to ensure high channel utilization. In this approach, we introduce the notion of channel access cost to quantify the system-wide traffic load and per-station channel usage. The access cost is estimated at the MAC in an access point and conveyed to the TCP sender. Then, the TCP sender adjusts its sending rate based on the access cost, so as to assure per-station fairness. The simulation results indicate that the proposed approach can provide both per-station fairness and high channel utilization, irrespective of network configurations.     

Cross-layer loss differentiation algorithms to improve TCP performance in WLANs

Loss Differentiation Algorithms (LDA) are currently used to determine the cause of packet losses with an aim of improving TCP performance over wireless networks. In this work, we propose a cross-layer solution using two complementary LDA schemes in order to classify the loss origin on an 802.11 link and then to react consequently. The first LDA scheme, acting at the MAC layer, allows differentiating losses due to signal failure caused by displacement or by noise from other loss types. Moreover, in the case of a signal failure, this scheme adapts the behavior of the MAC layer in order to avoid a costly end-to-end TCP resolution. The objective of the second LDA scheme, which acts at the TCP layer, is to distinguish between losses due to interferences and those due to congestions, then accordingly adapt the TCP behavior. We finally demonstrate, through simulation, the efficiency of each LDA scheme as well as the whole cross-layer solution.     

Enhancing Fairness for Short-Lived TCP Flows in 802.11b WLANs

The problem of providing throughput fairness in a wired-cum-wireless network where the wireless portion is an 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) is addressed. Due to the distributed nature of the primary 802.11 media access control protocol and the unpredictability of the wireless channel, quality of service guarantees in general and fairness in particular are hard to achieve in WLANs. This fact seriously compromises the interaction between 802.11-based networks and well-established architectures such as DiffServ. The focus of this paper is on transmission control protocol (TCP) traffic, and two fundamental problems related to throughput fairness are identified. First, the basic requirement of providing fair access to all users conflicts with the nature of TCP, which is fair only under certain conditions and hardly met by 802.11b WLANs. Second, short-lived TCP flows that are sensitive to losses during the early stages of TCP window growth need to be protected. To address these issues, a logical-link-control-layer algorithm that can be implemented at both access points and wireless stations is proposed. The algorithm aims at guaranteeing fair access to the medium to every user, independent of their channel conditions. At the same time, the proposed scheme protects short-lived flows, while they strive to get past the critical "small window regime." A simulation study that shows the effectiveness of the new algorithm in comparison to the standard 802.11b implementation is presented     

WLAN中TCP性能改进的跨层方案仿真

随着无线网络的迅速发展,如何改进TCP在无线网络中的传输性能这一课题,已经成为国内外研究的热点.文章分析了现有的几种典型的TCP改进方案,并在此基础上介绍一种新的跨层方案.通过在传输层和链路层之间引入ARQ Snoop代理,在链路层检测并重传ARQ分组的同时,协调WLAN MAC子层的ARQ机制与TCP的ARQ策略.     

A Cross-Layer Approach for Improving TCP Performance in Mobile Environments

Network-layer mobility protocols have been developed to keep continuous connectivity for mobile hosts while transparent to the higher layers. However, Due to its distinct characteristics of different from traditional TCP/IP environment, mobility poses substantial impacts on TCP performance in mobile environments. This paper proposes a new cross-layer approach, by introducing a mobility detection element in the network layer which interacts with the transport layer to optimize TCP operations. As changes are only made to the endpoints, this approach preserves the end-to-end semantics of TCP. Different from most exiting works, which utilize either transport or network layer alone without much cross-layer cooperation, our approach allows the use of mobility information in TCP. We analytically compare this approach against existing approaches and show that our approach outperforms prior approaches in terms of effective data resumption time. Through performance simulations, our approach demonstrates that it can effectively improve TCP performance in Mobile IPv6-based mobile environments.     

Improving TCP Vegas Fairness in Presence of Backward Traffic

TCP Vegas provides better performance compared to traditional TCP Reno schemes. However, backward traffic significantly degrades Vegas efficiency causing underutilization of the available bandwidth and unfairness. In this letter, we present an enhanced congestion control mechanism for TCP Vegas able to correctly remove the undesired impact of reverse traffic on bandwidth sharing. Furthermore, our proposal is easily deployable because it does not require neither clock synchronization nor any special support at the intermediate routers     

Buffer Sizing for TCP Flows in 802.11e WLANs

We consider the task of sizing buffers for TCP flows in 802.11e WLANs. A number of fundamental new issues arise compared to wired networks. These include that the mean service rate is dependent on the level of channel contention and packet inter-service times vary stochastically due to the random nature of CSMA/CA operation. We find that these considerations lead naturally to a requirement for adaptation of buffer sizes in response to changing network conditions.     

TCP fairness in. 802.11e WLANs

We investigate the use of the 8.02.11e MAC EDCF to address transport layer unfairness in WLANs. A simple solution is developed that uses the 802.11e AIFS, TXOP and CW/sub min/ parameters to ensure fairness between competing TCP uploads and downloads.     

Cross-layer optimization in TCP/IP networks

TCP-AQM can be interpreted as distributed primal-dual algorithms to maximize aggregate utility over source rates. We show that an equilibrium of TCP/IP, if exists, maximizes aggregate utility over both source rates and routes, provided congestion prices are used as link costs. An equilibrium exists if and only if this utility maximization problem and its Lagrangian dual have no duality gap. In this case, TCP/IP incurs no penalty in not splitting traffic across multiple paths. Such an equilibrium, however, can be unstable. It can be stabilized by adding a static component to link cost, but at the expense of a reduced utility in equilibrium. If link capacities are optimally provisioned, however, pure static routing, which is necessarily stable, is sufficient to maximize utility. Moreover single-path routing again achieves the same utility as multipath routing at optimality.     

Improving protocol capacity for UDP/TCP traffic with model-based frame scheduling in IEEE 802.11-operated WLANs

In this paper, we develop a model-based frame scheduling scheme, called MFS, to enhance the capacity of IEEE 802.11-operated wireless local area networks (WLANs) for both transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) traffic. In MFS each node estimates the current network status by keeping track of the number of collisions it encounters between its two consecutive successful frame transmissions, and computes accordingly the current network utilization. The result is then used to determine a scheduling delay to be introduced before a node attempts to transmit its pending frame. MFS does not require any change in IEEE 802.11, but instead lays a thin layer between the LL and medium access control (MAC) layers. In order to accurately calculate the current utilization in WLANs, we develop an analytical model that characterizes data transmission activities in IEEE 802.11-operated WLANs with/without the request to send/clear to send (RTS/CTS) mechanism, and validate the model with ns-2 simulation. All the control overhead incurred in the physical and MAC layers, as well as system parameters specified in IEEE 802.11, are figured in. We conduct a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate MFS in perspective of the number of collisions, achievable throughput, intertransmission delay, and fairness in the cases of TCP and UDP traffic. The simulation results indicate that the performance improvement with respect to the protocol capacity in a WLAN of up to 300 nodes is 1) as high as 20% with the RTS/CTS and 70% without the RTS/CTS in the case of UDP traffic and 2) as high as 10% with the RTS/CTS and 40% without the RTS/CTS in the case of TCP traffic. Moreover, the intertransmission delay in MFS is smaller and exhibits less variation than that in IEEE 802.11; the fairness among wireless nodes in MFS is better than, or equal to, that in IEEE 802.11.     

混合网络下的TCP拥塞控制跨层优化算法

针对混合网络中并行链路间TCP流的不公平性,提出一种新的算法.此算法利用跨层设计的思想,以传输层的数据重传率为参数来调整TCP流不公平性,也就是说MAC层上的竞争窗口将根据重传率的动态变化而改变,其目的在于抑制并行链路TCP流接入信道能力的不公平性.并且用仿真工具NS2进行仿真的结果表明,采用改进算法后的网络公平性指数比未改进前提高了17.9％.该算法能明显改善并行链路间TCP流的不公平性.     

一种基于模糊逻辑的主动队列管理算法

主动队列管理 (ActiveQueueManagement,AQM)技术作为Internet拥塞控制的一种有效方法 ,对于提高In ternet的服务质量具有十分重要的作用 .本文根据TCP拥塞控制算法基于数据包丢失的窗口变化机制 ,设计了一种基于模糊逻辑的主动队列管理算法 .该算法依据路由器中队列长度的变化情况 ,根据一定的模糊自校正原则来调整数据包的丢弃概率 ,从而使路由器中的队列长度稳定在参考值附近 .仿真结果表明该算法不但十分有效 ,而且对不同的网络状况具有很好的适应能力 .     

Providing Throughput and Fairness Guarantees in Virtualized WLANs Through Control Theory

With the increasing demand for mobile Internet access, WLAN virtualization is becoming a promising solution for sharing wireless infrastructure among multiple service providers. Unfortunately, few mechanisms have been devised to tackle this problem and the existing approaches fail in optimizing the limited bandwidth and providing virtual networks with fairness guarantees. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on control theory to configure the virtual WLANs with the goal of ensuring fairness in the resource distribution, while maximizing the total throughput. Our algorithm works by adapting the contention window configuration of each virtual WLAN to the channel activity in order to ensure optimal operation. We conduct a control-theoretic analysis of our system to appropriately design the parameters of the controller and prove system stability, and undertake an extensive simulation study to show that our proposal optimizes performance under different types of traffic. The results show that the mechanism provides a fair resource distribution independent of the number of stations and their level of activity, and is able to react promptly to changes in the network conditions while ensuring stable operation.     

A Control Theoretic Approach for Throughput Optimization in IEEE 802.11e EDCA WLANs

The MAC layer of the 802.11 standard, based on the CSMA/CA mechanism, specifies a set of parameters to control the aggressiveness of stations when trying to access the channel. However, these parameters are statically set independently of the conditions of the WLAN (e.g. the number of contending stations), leading to poor performance for most scenarios. To overcome this limitation previous work proposes to adapt the value of one of those parameters, namely the CW, based on an estimation of the conditions of the WLAN. However, these approaches suffer from two major drawbacks: i) they require extending the capabilities of standard devices or ii) are based on heuristics. In this paper we propose a control theoretic approach to adapt the CW to the conditions of the WLAN, based on an analytical model of its operation, that is fully compliant with the 802.11e standard. We use a Proportional Integrator controller in order to drive the WLAN to its optimal point of operation and perform a theoretic analysis to determine its configuration. We show by means of an exhaustive performance evaluation that our algorithm maximizes the total throughput of the WLAN and substantially outperforms previous standard-compliant proposals.     

一种改善TCP性能的链路层重传方案

有线网络中TCP拥塞控制机制是建立在网络丢包的基础之上的,所以该机制不能适应无线网络中高误码率造成的无线链路丢包的情况。无线链路层重传技术是改善网络性能因无线信道误码率较高而下降的一项重要措施。文中研究了WCDMA无线网络中链路层重传技术对无线TCP数据传输的影响,比较两种重传方案,通过OPNET仿真技术对其进行仿真比较,得出其中一种更有效的改善TCP传输性能的方案。     

Fairness Aware Rate Adaptation and Proportional Scheduling for IEEE 802.11 WLANs Using FSE

With its rapid development in the wireless markets, IEEE 802.11 WLAN is experiencing a huge popularity. However, due to the limitation of frequency bandwidth of WLANs, it is essential that the available radio resource should be fully utilized to offer different services to multiple users. In order to maximize system throughput while still guaranteeing the fairness among users, a proportional fairness based algorithm is proposed in this work. Since most of the previous resource allocation algorithms were simply based on the channel conditions without taking into account user’s demand, in this paper, we introduce the theory of fuzzy synthetic evaluation(FSE) which also allows us to consider user’s demand as an important factor. As such, the fairness among users can be improved based on different users’ requirements for services. In addition, a channel state information based rate adaptation scheme is also proposed. Through simulation studies, the results clearly validate that our proposed scheme shows advantages on providing user fairness while still improving the system throughput.     

A Smart TCP Acknowledgment Approach for Multihop Wireless Networks

Reliable data transfer is one of the most difficult tasks to be accomplished in multihop wireless networks. Traditional transport protocols like TCP face severe performance degradation over multihop networks given the noisy nature of wireless media as well as unstable connectivity conditions in place. The success of TCP in wired networks motivates its extension to wireless networks. A crucial challenge faced by TCP over these networks is how to operate smoothly with the 802.11 wireless MAC protocol which also implements a retransmission mechanism at link level in addition to short RTS/CTS control frames for avoiding collisions. These features render TCP acknowledgments (ACK) transmission quite costly. Data and ACK packets cause similar medium access overheads despite the much smaller size of the ACKs. In this paper, we further evaluate our dynamic adaptive strategy for reducing ACK-induced overhead and consequent collisions. Our approach resembles the sender side's congestion control. The receiver is self-adaptive by delaying more ACKs under nonconstrained channels and less otherwise. This improves not only throughput but also power consumption. Simulation evaluations exhibit significant improvement in several scenarios     

A Cross-layer Approach to Channel Assignment in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

To improve the capacity of wireless ad hoc networks by exploiting multiple available channels, we propose a distributed channel assignment protocol that is based on a cross-layer approach. By combining channel assignment with routing protocols, the proposed channel assignment protocol is shown to require fewer channels and exhibit lower communication, computation, and storage complexity than existing channel assignment schemes. A multi-channel MAC (MC-MAC) protocol that works with the proposed channel assignment protocol is also presented. We prove the correctness of the proposed channel assignment protocol. In addition, through a performance study, we show that the proposed protocol can substantially increase throughput and reduce delay in wireless ad hoc networks, compared to the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol and an existing multi-channel scheme.

Cross-layer TCP with bitmap error recovery scheme in wireless ad hoc networks

Current TCP is not able to distinguish corruption losses from packet loss events. Hence, high transmission errors and varying inherent latency within a wireless network would cause seriously adverse effects to TCP performance. To improve TCP in IEEE 802.11 multi-hop ad hoc wireless networks, this study proposes an error recovery mechanism based on coordination of TCP and IEEE 802.11 MAC protocols. The simulation results confirm that the proposed error recovery approach could provide a more efficient solution for frequent transmission losses, and enable TCP to distinguish between congestion errors and transmission errors, and thus, to respond with proper remedial actions.     

A Cross-Layer Approach to Reduce Channel Access Delay Jitter in IEEE 802.11 WLANs

In this paper, we propose a consistent random backoff (CRB) scheme to reduce the channel access delay jitter in voice over wireless local area networks. In the CRB scheme, a contention window (CW) size at each backoff stage is determined by hashing the session identifier and the talk spurt index. Therefore, all packets in the same talk spurt of a session have the same CW sizes if they are transmitted at the same backoff stage. Since a modulo-division operation with the identical maximum CW value is applied, fairness with the legacy backoff scheme (i.e., binary exponential backoff) is also provided. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the CRB scheme can reduce the channel access delay jitter by 54 %.