Modifications to TCP for improved performance and reliable end-to-end communication in wireless networks

Wireless ad-hoc networks consist of a set of identical mobile nodes that communicate with each other over limited range wireless links. These wireless links are lossy due to noise and co-channel interference. Moreover, node mobility can lead to establishment of new links and disappearance of some existing links. Current implementations of TCP are not suitably equipped to operate in ad-hoc networks. Loss of packets due to path disruption can be misinterpreted as congestion. We propose to introduce modifications to TCP such that it can work for these kind of dynamic networks. These modifications will exploit the mobility support in the underlying routing protocol. The information provided by the routing protocol can be used to send explicit freeze and resume signals to the TCP source on link disruption and restoration. The proposed solutions can inter-operate with existing TCP implementations, have low communication overheads and are consistent with various ad-hoc network routing protocols.