The purpose of the research project is to design simple, efficient, and robust mechanisms to improve the performance of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) in mixed wired/wireless and ad hoc communication networks. The basic approach is to study how the soon-to-be-standardized Selective Acknowledgment (SACK) feature of TCP, together with knowledge of the statistical behavior of wireless links, can be used to decouple the error recovery and flow control functions of TCP by distinguishing between transient and persistent packet loss. The network will be modeled within a stochastic framework, guided and validated by computer simulation. Rigorous mathematical techniques, as well as extensive computer simulation, will be employed to design and analyze the performance of each mechanism. In order to accurately evaluate the performance of the mechanisms, they will be implemented experimentally under a wide variety of real-world conditions using channel emulation hardware. The education plan can be summarized as one of utilizing the vast resources at the University of Michigan, participating in several initiatives in curriculum development, involving undergraduate students in research, and developing Web-based Matlab modules.
