Transmission control protocol (TCP) in wireless networks: issues, approaches, and challenges
Ka-Cheong Leung, Victor O. K. Li · IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials · 2006
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the most popular transport layer protocol for the Internet. Due to the characteristics specific to wireless networks, such as signal fading and mobility, packets may be lost due to con- gestive and noncongestive losses. Substantial noncongestive losses violate the design principles of some traffic control mechanisms in TCP and thus pose performance problems. In this article we provide a comprehensive and in-depth survey on recent research in TCP for wireless communications. The taxonomy and characteristics of wireless networks, and problems for TCP in wireless communications are introduced. Various representative algorithms which preserve the end-to-end semantics are examined. Some open ques- tions are discussed in order to stimulate further research in this area.