Impact of Acknowledgements using IETF QUIC on Satellite Performance

This paper explores the use of IETF QUIC with a GEO satellite service, with a focus on the return path. It examines how TCP ACKs are adapted on paths with high asymmetry and then discusses the implications of the way ACKs are used by a QUIC connection. It presents new experimental results for a satellite scenario using two IETF QUIC implementations, and explores the impact of different ACK policies on performance. The results show that reducing the number of ACKs sent per packet reduces the resource usage in the satellite return link subsystem, and can in some cases improve forward path performance, without impacting congestion control performance.