A comprehensive analysis of TCP congestion control schemes in wireless mesh networks

TCP is the standard transport protocol for reliable data communication over the internet. However, TCP behaviour over wireless mesh networks encounters random losses due to channel errors, changing topology and node distance. This paper aims to perform a comparison of TCP Old Tahoe and Tahoe in wireless mesh networks and analyze the throughput, propagation delay, packets retransmitted and number of duplicate acknowledgements received for varying node densities. The anomalous behaviour of TCP in the wireless network is documented, and probable explanations are provided. A comparison of the most suitable variant for each case is concluded. Overall, Tahoe shows 52% lower average throughput and 14% lower delay as compared to Old Tahoe. TCP Old Tahoe appears to be more suitable for lower density networks, whereas TCP Tahoe gives better results for higher density networks.