TCP tunnel is a technology that aggregates and transfers packets sent between end hosts as a single TCP connection. By using a TCP tunnel, the fairness among aggregated flows can be improved and several protocols can be transparently transmitted through a firewall. Currently, many applications such as SSH, VTun, and HTun use a TCP tunnel. However, since most applications running on end hosts generally use TCP, two TCP congestion controls (i.e., end-to-end TCP and tunnel TCP) operate simultaneously and interfere each other. Under certain conditions, it has been known that using a TCP tunnel severely degrades the end-to-end TCP performance. Namely, it has known that using a TCP tunnel drastically degrades the end-to-end TCP throughput for some time, which is called TCP meltdown problem. On the contrary, under other conditions, it has been known that using a TCP tunnel significantly improves the end-to-end TCP performance. However, it is still an open issue --- how, when, and why is a TCP tunnel malicious for end-to-end TCP performance? In this paper, we therefore investigate effect of TCP tunnel on end-to-end TCP performance using simulation experiments. Specifically, we quantitatively reveal effects of several factors (e.g., the propagation delay, usage of SACK option, TCP socket buffer size, and sender buffer size of TCP tunnel) on performance of end-to-end TCP and tunnel TCP.
In recent years, AQM (Active Queue Management) mechanisms, which support the end-to-end congestion control mechanism of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), have been widely studied in the literature. AQM mechanism is a congestion controller at a router for suppressing and stabilizing its queue length (i.e., the number of packets in the buffer) by actively discarding arriving packets. Although a number of AQM mechanisms have been proposed, behaviors of those AQM mechanisms other than RED (Random Early Detection) have not been fully investigated. In this paper, using fluid-flow approximation, we analyze steady state behavior of DRED (Dynamic RED), which is designed with a control theoretic approach. More specifically, we model several network components such as congestion control mechanism of TCP, DRED router, and link propagation delay as independent SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) continuous-time systems. By interconnecting those SISO models, we obtain a continuous-time model for the entire network. Unlike other fluid-based modeling approaches, our analytic approach is scalable; our analytic approach is scalable in terms of the number of TCP connections and DRED routers since both input and output of all continuous-time systems are uniformly defined as a packet transmission rate. By performing steady-state analysis, we derive TCP throughput, average queue length of DRED router, and packet loss probability. Through several numerical examples, we quantitatively show that DRED has an intrinsic problem in high-speed networks; i.e., DRED cannot stabilize its queue length when the bottleneck link bandwidth is high. We also validate accuracy of our analytic approach by comparing analytic results with simulation ones.
Recently, several gateway-based congestion control mechanisms have been proposed to support the end-to-end congestion control mechanism of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). In this paper, we focus on RED (Random Early Detection), which is a promising gateway-based congestion control mechanism. RED randomly drops an arriving packet with a probability proportional to its average queue length (i.e., the number of packets in the buffer). However, it is still unclear whether the packet marking function of RED is optimal or not. In this paper, we investigate what type of packet marking function, which determines the packet marking probability from the average queue length, is suitable from the viewpoint of both steady state and transient state performances. Presenting several numerical examples, we investigate the advantages and disadvantages of three packet marking functions: linear, concave, and convex. We show that, although the average queue length in the steady state becomes larger, use of a concave function improves the transient behavior of RED and also realizes robustness against network status changes such as variation in the number of active TCP connections.
KEYWORDS: Probability theory, Systems modeling, Internet, Computer simulations, Analytical research, Video, Linear filtering, Feedback control, Information science, Information technology
In recent years, various real-time applications in the Internet have been emerging with rapid increase of the network bandwidth. A real-time application traditionally uses either UDP (User Datagram Protocol) or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) as its transport layer protocol. However, using either UDP or TCP is insufficient for most real-time applications because of lacking a smooth rate control mechanism or suffering a significant transfer delay. In the literature, several transport-layer communication protocols for real-time applications have been proposed. In this paper, among these transport-layer communication protocols, we focus on TFRC (TCP-Friendly Rate Control). Steady state performances of TCP and TFRC connections such as throughput and fairness have been throughly investigated by many researchers using simulation experiments. However, transient state properties of TCP and TFRC connections such as stability and responsiveness have not been investigated. In this paper, we therefore analyze both steady state and transient state performances of TCP and TFRC connections using a control theoretic approach. We frist model TFRC and TCP connections with different propagation delays and the active queue management mechanism of RED (Random Early Detection) router as independent discrete-time systems. By combining these discrete-time systems, we analyze steady state performance of TCP and TFRC connections such as throughput, transfer delay, and packet loss probability. We also analyze transient state performance of TCP and TFRC connections using linearization of discrete-time systems around their equilibrium points.
KEYWORDS: Probability theory, Control systems, Network security, Internet, Systems modeling, Feedback control, Radon, Information science, Information technology, Computer simulations
In the current Internet, most of the traffic is transmitted by TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). In our previous work, we have proposed a modeling approach for the entire network, including TCP congestion control mechanisms operating at source hosts and the network seen by TCP connections, as a single feedback system. However, our analytic model is limited to a simple network, where TCP connections have the identical propagation delay. In this paper, we therefore extend our analytic approach to a more generic network, where multiple TCP connections are allowed to have different
propagation delays. We derive the packet loss probability in the network, the throughput and the average round-trip time of each TCP connection in steady state. By presenting several numerical examples, we quantitatively investigate how the fairness among TCP connections is degraded when multiple TCP connections with different propagation delays share the single bottleneck link.
KEYWORDS: Control systems, System identification, Data modeling, Time metrology, Systems modeling, Adaptive control, Performance modeling, Mathematical modeling, Internet, Linear filtering
In the Internet, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) has been used as an
end-to-end congestion control mechanism. Of all several TCP implementations,
TCP Reno is the most popular implementation. TCP Reno uses a loss-based
approach since it estimates the severity of congestion by detecting packet
losses in the network. On the contrary, another implementation called TCP Vegas
uses a delay-based approach. The main advantage of a delay-based approach is,
if it is properly designed, packet losses can be prevented by anticipating
impending congestion from increasing packet delays. However, TCP Vegas was
designed using not a theoretical approach but an ad hock one. In this paper, we
therefore design a delay-based congestion control mechanism by utilizing the
classical control theory. Our rate-based congestion control mechanism
dynamically adjusts the packet transmission rate to stabilize the round-trip
time for utilizing the network resources and also for preventing packet losses
in the network. Presenting several simulation results in two network
configurations, we quantitatively show the robustness and the effectiveness of
our delay-based congestion control mechanism.
KEYWORDS: Statistical analysis, Computer simulations, Control systems, Internet, Analytical research, Detection and tracking algorithms, Linear filtering, Information science, Information technology
AQM (Active Queue Management) mechanism, which performs congestion
control at a router for assisting the end-to-end congestion control
mechanism of TCP, has been actively studied by many researchers.
For instance, RED (Random Early Detection) is a representative AQM
mechanism, which drops arriving packets with a probability being
proportional to its average queue length. The RED router has four
control parameters, and its effectiveness heavily depends on a
choice of these control parameters. This is why many researches on
the parameter tuning of RED control parameters have been performed.
However, most of those studies have investigated the effect of RED
control parameters on its performance from a small number of
simulation results. In this paper, we therefore statistically
analyze a great number of simulation results using the multivariate
analysis. We quantitatively show the relation between RED control
parameters and its performance.
A feedback-based congestion control mechanism is essential to realize an efficient best-effort service in high-speed networks. A window-based flow control mechanism called TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), which a sort of feedback-based congestion control mechanism, has been widely used in the current Internet. Recently-proposed TCP Vegas is another version of TCP mechanism, and can achieve better performance than the current TCP Reno. In our previous works, we have analyzed stability of a window-based flow control mechanism based on TCP Vegas in both homogeneous and heterogeneous networks. In this paper, using our analytic results, we invesitigate how the dynamics of the window-based flow control mechanism based on TCP Vegas is affected by the difference in propagation delays of TCP connections. We also investigate the effect of various system parameters on transient performance of the window-based flow control mechanism.
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