In this paper we explore the bias in TCP/IP networks against connections with multiple congested gateways. We consider the interaction between the bias against connections with multiple congested gateways, the bias of the TCP window modification algorithm against connections with longer roundtrip times, and the bias of Drop Tail and Random Drop gateways against bursty traffic. Using simulations and a heuristic analysis, we show that in a network with the window modification algorithm in 4.3 tahoe BSD TCP and with Random Drop or Drop Tail gateways, a longer connection with multiple congested gateways can receive unacceptably low throughput. We show that in a network with no bias against connections with longer roundtrip times and with no bias against bursty traffic, a connection with multiple congested gateways can receive an acceptable level of throughput. We discuss the application of several current measures of fairness to networks with multiple congested gateways, and show that diff...

Simulating how the global Internet behaves is an immensely challenging undertaking because of the network's great heterogeneity and rapid change. The heterogeneity ranges from the individual links that carry the network's traffic, to the protocols that interoperate over the links, to the "mix" of different applications used at a site, to the levels of congestion seen on different links. We discuss two key strategies for developing meaningful simulations in the face of these difficulties: searching for invariants, and judiciously exploring the simulation parameter space. We finish with a brief look at a collaborative effort within the research community to develop a common network simulator. 1 Introduction Due to the network's complexity, simulation plays a vital role in attempting to characterize both the behavior of the current Internet and the possible effects of proposed changes to its operation. Yet modeling and simulating the Internet is not an easy task. The goal of this paper ...

We investigate the performance of TCP connections over ATM networks without ATM-level congestion control, and compare it to the performance of TCP over packet-based networks. For simulations of congested networks, the effective throughput of TCP over ATM can be quite low when cells are dropped at the congested ATM switch. The low throughput is due to wasted bandwidth as the congested link transmits cells from `corrupted' packets, i.e., packets in which at least one cell is dropped by the switch. We investigate two packet discard strategies which alleviate the effects of fragmentation. Partial Packet Discard, in which remaining cells are discarded after one cell has been dropped from a packet, somewhat improves throughput. We introduce Early Packet Discard, a strategy in which the switch drops whole packets prior to buffer overflow. This mechanism prevents fragmentation and restores throughput to maximal levels.

Based on experiments conducted in a network simulator and over real networks, this paper proposes changes to the congestion control scheme in current TCP implementations to improve its behavior during the start-up period of a TCP connection. The scheme, which includes Slow-start, Fast Retransmit, and Fast Recovery algorithms, uses acknowledgments from a receiver to dynamically calculate reasonable operating values for a sender's TCP parameters governing when and how much a sender can pump into the network. During the startup period, because a TCP sender starts with default parameters, it often ends up sending too many packets and too fast, leading to multiple losses of packets from the same window. This paper shows that recovery from losses during this start-up period is often unnecessarily time-consuming. In particular, using the current Fast Retransmit algorithm, when multiple packets in the same window are lost, only one of the packet losses may be recovered by each Fast Retransmi...

Simulating how the global Internet data network behaves is an immensely challenging undertaking because of the network's great heterogeneity and rapid change. The heterogeneity ranges from the individual links that carry the network's traffic, to the protocols that interoperate over the links, to the "mix" of different applications used at a site and the levels of congestion (load) seen on different links. We discuss two key strategies for developing meaningful simulations in the face of these difficulties: searching for invariants and judiciously exploring the simulation parameter space. We finish with a look at a collaborative effort to build a common simulation environment for conducting Internet studies.

We use the measured round trip delays of small UDP probe packets sent at regular time intervals to characterize the end-to-end packet delay and loss behavior in the Internet. By varying the interval between probe packets, it is possible to study the structure of the Internet load over different time scales. In this paper, the time scales of interest range from a few milliseconds to a few minutes. Our observations agree with results obtained by others using simulation and experimental approaches. For example, our estimates of Internet workload are consistent with the hypothesis of a mix of bulk traffic with larger packet size, and interactive traffic with smaller packet size. The interarrival time distribution for Internet packets is consistent with an exponential distribution. We also observe a phenomenon of compression (or clustering) of the probe packets similar to the acknowledgement compression phenomenon recently observed in TCP. Our results also show interesting and less expected...

ing with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permission to publish from: Publications Dept. ACM, Inc. Fax +1 212 869 0481 or email !permissions@acm.org?. Abstract We have developed a Forward Acknowledgment (FACK) congestion control algorithm which addresses many of the performance problems recently observed in the Internet. The FACK algorithm is based on first principles of congestion control and is designed to be used with the proposed TCP SACK option. By decoupling congestion control from other algorithms such as data recovery, it attains more precise control over the data flow in the network. We introduce two additional algorithms to improve the behavior in specific situations. Through simulations we compare FACK to both Reno and Reno with SACK. Finally, we consider the potential performance and impact of FACK in the Internet. 1 Introduction The evolution...

In order to stem the increasing packet loss rates caused by an exponential increase in network traffic, the IETF is considering the deployment of active queue management techniques such as RED [13]. While active queue management can potentially reduce packet loss rates in the Internet, this paper shows that current techniques are ineffective in preventing high loss rates. The inherent problem with these queue management algorithms is that they all use queue lengths as the indicator of the severity of congestion.

Under the assumption that queueing delays will eventually become small relative to propagation delays, we derive stability results for a fluid flow model of end-to-end Internet congestion control. The theoretical results of the paper are intended to be decentralized and locally implemented: each end system needs knowledge only of its own roundtrip delay. Criteria for local stability and rate of convergence are completely characterized for a single resource, single user system. Stability criteria are also described for networks where aH users share the same roundtrip delay. Numerical experiments investigate extensions to more general networks. Through simulations, we are able to evaluate the relative importance of queueing delays and propagation delays on network stability. Finally, we suggest how these results may be used to design network resources.

This paper considers the potential negative impacts from an increasing deployment of non-congestion-controlled besteffort traffic on the Internet. These negative impacts range from extreme unfairness against competing TCP traffic to the potential for congestion collapse. To promote the inclusion of end-to-end congestion control for best-effort traffic, we propose lightweight router mechanisms for identifying and restricting the bandwidth of high-bandwidth best-effort flows that are using a disproportionate share of the bandwidth in times of congestion. Our method does not require per-flow state based on packet arrivals, but instead relies on the history of packet drops from a queue with RED (Random Early Detection) queue management. Starting with high-bandwidth flows identified from the RED drop history, we describe a sequence of tests capable of suggesting flows for bandwidth regulation. These tests additionally identify a high-bandwidth flow in times of congestion as unresponsive, "n...