Thursday, September 20, 2007

TCP is confused by packet collision in wireless environments

In wired communications, it is safe to assume a lost TCP packet is due to congestion which slows down transmission by narrowing TCP windows. However, in the wireless world, lost packets are often caused by collisions. However, TCP mistake the collisions for congestions. That's why TCP is not a very good protocol for wireless packet communication.

extended reading. Sec 1-2-2 of Textbook.

No comments: