TCP flow control technique for an interworking interface: hardware implementation

Current TCP flow control depends on packet losses to find the workload that a network can support. A variety of situations, including lossy wireless networks, asymmetric networks and web traffic workload, violates many of the assumptions made by TCP, causing degraded end-to-end performances. To improve the performance of TCP over heterogeneous networks (Ethernet and ATM interconnection), we propose a new technique, which we call Vegas-Snoop +, based on Vegas and Snoop protocols. Two modified service elements take part on the Vegas-Snoop + technique. First. Vegas service element manages the connection parameters to achieve better throughput. Second, Snoop service element isolates the Ethernet senders from the characteristics of the ATM link. The objective in this paper is to win from advantages of Vegas and Snoop protocols, as well as to search an interconnection interface for networks interoperability. Actually, the development of two new integrated circuits (the BCM5680 (switch) and the BCM5401 (PHY)) orientate researchers to implement, at higher layer of the OSI model, flow control mechanisms to ensure reliability. Vegas-Snoop + is an implementation of TCP, which gives in this way a solution for traffic management and congestion control improving good throughput with more reliability. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.