Window Regulator for Wireless Network Throughput
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication networks, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) often results in reduced throughput and degraded user experiences due to rapidly varying data rates and delays, leading to inefficiencies and packet losses in 3G and 4G broadband networks, as it was designed for conventional wire-line networks with low error rates and constant data rates.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device-implemented method and system for dynamically setting the size of the advertised window based on network capacity measurements, particularly at bottleneck nodes, to regulate data transmission rates and avoid buffer overflow, without directly observing the bottleneck node's buffer size, thereby improving network throughput and utilizing available bandwidth efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If TCP sliding window protocol is used in wireless networks, then data transmission reliability is improved through acknowledgment and retransmission mechanisms, but network throughput deteriorates due to rapidly varying data rates and delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically adjusts the advertised window size based on observed network conditions (data rates and delays) rather than using a fixed window size. The system continuously monitors throughput and adapts the window parameter in real-time to match varying wireless network conditions, resolving the contradiction between reliability mechanisms and throughput performance
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the TCP protocol parameter (advertised window size) based on observed network conditions. By modifying this key parameter dynamically according to measured data rates and delays, the system optimizes throughput while maintaining the reliability guarantees provided by TCP acknowledgments and retransmissions
2Productivity
If the advertised window size is increased to improve throughput, then data transmission rate is improved, but packet loss increases due to buffer overflow at bottleneck nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by monitoring actual throughput and using this information to adjust the advertised window size. This closed-loop control prevents buffer overflow at bottleneck nodes by adapting the transmission rate to match network capacity, thereby maintaining high throughput without increasing packet loss
Solution Approach 2:
The patent proactively adjusts the advertised window size before buffer overflow occurs by continuously observing network conditions and predicting capacity constraints. This preliminary adaptation prevents packet loss rather than reacting to it after the fact
Data Source
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AI summary
A window regulator for improving the performance of communications networks is described. In a communications network, data is sent downstream from a sender to a receiver, and acknowledgements are sent back upstream. When data is received at the receiver, the data is placed in a buffer and an acknowledgement of receipt may be sent. If no acknowledgement is received by a sender after a certain period of time, the sender retransmits the data. The receiver communicates how much data the receiver is willing to receive at any given time by sending an advertised window to the sender. The window regulator sets the size of the advertised window based on measurements of capacity in the network to improve the amount and rate of data sent downstream while avoiding loss of data and subsequent retransmissions.