Channel efficiency-based transmission rate control for congestion avoidance in wireless ad hoc networks

• Published in: IEEE communications letters Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 706 - 708
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xinming, Lv, Jun, Han, Xiaojun, Sung, Dan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.09.2009; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Access methods and protocols, osi model; Access protocols; Ad hoc networks; Analytical models; Applied sciences; Avoidance; Business and industry local networks; channel efficiency; Channels; Congestion; congestion avoidance; cross-layer; Degradation; Delay; Exact sciences and technology; Feeds; IEEE 802.11; MAC; Media Access Protocol; Mobile ad hoc networks; Multiaccess communication; Networks; Networks and services in france and abroad; rate control; Simulation; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; TCP (protocol); Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Teleprocessing networks. Isdn; Teletraffic; Throughput; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Wireless application protocol; Wireless communication; Access control; Performance evaluation; IEEE 802.11; Wireless LAN; Wireless telecommunication; Information rate; Transmission control protocol; cross-layer; Adaptive method; Degradation; Traffic control; Delay time; Ad hoc network; Flow rate regulation; Transmission protocol; Teletraffic; Ad hoc networks; channel efficiency; Information transmission; MAC; congestion avoidance; Simulation; Traffic management; Wireless network; Transmission rate; rate control; Access protocol; Personal communication networks; Traffic congestion
• ISSN: 1089-7798; 1558-2558
• DOI: 10.1109/LCOMM.2009.090861

If the transmission rate of transmission control protocol (TCP) does not match that of the medium access control (MAC) protocol in wireless ad hoc networks, it causes network congestion and network performance degradation. This letter proposes a new mechanism to feed back the real channel efficiency of MAC protocol to TCP. Comparing the real channel efficiency in MAC protocol with the virtual channel efficiency in TCP, we can adaptively control the transmission rate in TCP by using the congestion window and the flow of TCP ACKs, in order to alleviate the load of MAC protocol before a congestion event occurs and to enhance the network performance. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism outperforms 802.11 DCF in terms of throughput and delay.