TCP Path Segmentation with Erasure Coding for Lossy Wireless Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication protocols like TCP and UDP suffer from performance degradation in lossy wireless networks due to misinterpretation of packet losses as congestion, leading to reduced network efficiency and fidelity issues in real-time applications.
Innovation Solution
A system that integrates erasure coding methods to correct network losses without modifying the operating system, using automatic packet retransmission, erasure coding to create redundant packets, and dynamically determining redundancy based on network state information, ensuring efficient data throughput and reliability across both guaranteed and non-guaranteed data transmission protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If TCP uses end-to-end acknowledgements and congestion control mechanisms, then reliability of data delivery is improved, but transmission rate is reduced due to misinterpretation of packet loss as congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary error correction layer between the application layer and TCP layer that proactively adds redundant data packets to compensate for losses before TCP's congestion control misinterprets them. This intermediary layer absorbs the packet loss issue, allowing TCP to maintain high transmission rates without unnecessary rate reductions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary error correction by adding redundant packets to the data stream before transmission. This proactive measure ensures that even if packets are lost during transmission, the receiver can reconstruct the original data without triggering TCP's congestion control mechanisms, thus maintaining high transmission rates.
2Reliability
If TCP retransmits lost packets and modulates transmission rates, then data integrity is improved, but transmission latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary error correction by embedding redundant packets in advance, eliminating the need for reactive retransmission. This allows data to be delivered with integrity assurance without the time penalty of waiting for ACKs and retransmitting lost packets, significantly reducing transmission latency.
Solution Approach 2:
The error correction mechanism operates continuously in the background without interrupting the data flow. Redundant packets are generated and transmitted along with the data stream, ensuring continuous data delivery with integrity protection, avoiding the stop-start nature of traditional retransmission protocols.
3Reliability
If erasure coding adds redundant packets, then network resilience is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the error correction function into a separate, modular layer between the application and TCP layers. This segmentation isolates the complexity of erasure coding into a self-contained module with standardized interfaces, making the overall system more manageable and easier to implement without significantly increasing the complexity of existing network stack components.
Data Source
AI summary
The performance of TCP (and other protocols) is improved in a data network by segmenting the TCP path and implementing a protocol over the network. The protocol provides a multiplexed tunnel for a multiplicity of TCP sessions from a client to a cloud proxy. The protocol implements congestion management, flow control, reliability, and link monitoring. Other network protocols (such as UDP) are supported with a reliability protocol based upon network coding that improves the transmission reliability.