Enhanced transmission control protocol for space network: A COTS implementation

Use of standardized, common and commercial off the shelf (COTS) protocols for space communications increases interoperability and reduces cost of space systems. Most of the existing space transport protocols follow new approaches which are not drawn from the long standing, successful, and robust internet TCP. In this paper, we propose a performance enhanced transport layer protocol for deep space communication named Transport layer for Inter-Planetary Network (T-IPN) using the common standard terrestrial TCP. We have modified the data sending approach of existing TCP so that it can maintain a constant and high rate throughput throughout the transmission. Moreover, T-IPN opens multiple parallel TCP connections so as to transfer a number of TCP segments simultaneously over a single physical link. We develop theoretical models to understand the performance of T-IPN considering error free and erroneous link. Through simulations we evaluate our proposed T-IPN considering RTT values typically seen in Mars Exploration Networks under different conditions of packet error rates and show that the proposed T-IPN is error resistant and delay resilient.