Duplicate Packet Transmission for Network Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing TCP protocol experiences latency issues due to the waiting period for acknowledgments, particularly when the last packet in a series is lost, leading to increased transmission time as the server waits to retransmit, which can be substantial if the acknowledgement is delayed or lost.
Innovation Solution
Preemptively transmitting duplicate data packets along with the last packet in a series to reduce latency, as the likelihood of both the last and duplicate packets being lost is lower than just the last packet, thereby ensuring data receipt and minimizing waiting time for retransmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the server waits for acknowledgments before retransmitting lost packets, then network reliability is maintained, but transmission latency increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by transmitting duplicate packets ahead of time along with the original packet series, rather than waiting for acknowledgment and then retransmitting. The duplicate packets are sent in advance to the edge device, so if the original packets are lost, the duplicates are already available at the destination, eliminating the need for wait-and-retransmit cycles and significantly reducing latency while maintaining reliability.
2Loss of time
If duplicate packets are transmitted preemptively, then transmission latency is reduced, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transmitting duplicate packets only to edge devices that are geographically or topologically close to the destination server, rather than sending duplicates to all possible destinations. This localized approach means the duplicate packets are likely to take alternative paths that are physically closer and less congested, reducing overall network bandwidth consumption while still achieving the latency reduction benefit at the specific destination.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the server transmits packets according to standard TCP acknowledgment timing, then network congestion is controlled, but data transmission speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by sending duplicate packets in advance alongside the original packet transmission, rather than waiting for acknowledgment timing to trigger retransmission. This allows the destination to potentially receive data from duplicates before the acknowledgment cycle would normally trigger a retransmission, effectively bypassing the congestion-control-imposed delays and increasing transmission speed without exacerbating congestion at the source.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method transmits data so as to reduce latency in the transmissions. In one aspect, a sending device may determine a minimum number N of packets necessary to transmit information to a receiving device. In accordance with this aspect, in addition to transmitting all or some of the N number of packets in a given series, the sending device may additionally transmit one or more duplicate packets, where each duplicate packet contains data duplicative of the data contained in the last or Nth packet transmitted in the series.