Packet-Coded Network Transport for Reliable High-Speed Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication protocols like TCP struggle with the dynamic and varying characteristics of modern internet networks, leading to inefficiencies such as long delays, interruptions, and inefficient bandwidth use in data transfer, while UDP lacks reliability at the expense of fairness.
Innovation Solution
A packet coding-based protocol (PC-TCP) that uses Random Linear Coding (RLC) for error correction and congestion control, integrating with TCP to ensure high-speed, reliable data delivery by adapting transmission limits based on network conditions and employing multipath communication with UDP.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If TCP protocol is used for reliable data delivery, then delivery reliability is improved, but transmission speed and bandwidth efficiency deteriorate due to retransmissions and congestion control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies forward error correction by pre-encoding redundancy information into data packets before transmission. This preliminary action allows the receiver to reconstruct lost packets without requiring retransmissions, thereby maintaining reliability while improving transmission speed by eliminating the stop-wait cycles inherent in TCP retransmission protocols.
2Productivity
If UDP protocol is used for high-speed data transfer, then transmission speed is improved, but delivery reliability and network fairness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces packet coding as an intermediary layer between the application layer and transport layer. This intermediary applies forward error correction to UDP packets, adding reliability mechanisms without requiring the complex congestion control and acknowledgment systems of TCP, thus achieving both high speed and reliability simultaneously.
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional TCP congestion control is used, then network fairness is improved, but transmission efficiency and throughput deteriorate due to conservative rate limiting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of error handling from retransmission-based (TCP) to forward error correction-based (packet coding). This parameter change allows the system to achieve network fairness through controlled redundancy injection rather than conservative rate limiting, thereby improving throughput efficiency while maintaining fairness through the adaptive encoding rate.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for data communication between a first node and a second node includes forming one or more redundancy messages from data messages at the first node using an error correcting code and transmitting first messages from the first node to the second node over a data path, the transmitted first messages including the data messages and the one or more redundancy messages. Second messages are received at the first node from the second node, which are indicative of: (i) a rate of arrival at the second node of the first messages, and (ii) successful and unsuccessful delivery of the first messages. A transmission rate limit and a window size are maintained according to the received second messages. Transmission of additional messages from the first node to the second node is limited according to the maintained transmission rate limit and window size.