Performance Analysis of TCP/IP Protocols in Heterogeneous Networks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15662/IJEETR.2021.0306001Keywords:
TCP Performance, Heterogeneous Networks, Delay Asymmetry, Multipath TCP (MPTCP), MANETs, High Bandwidth-Delay Product (HBDP), Wireless and Optical Networks, Congestion Control (Vegas, Westwood), Low-Power Lossy Networks (LLNs), LTE on High-Speed MobilityAbstract
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), despite being the backbone of internet transport, often struggles in heterogeneous networks—where varying conditions like wireless links, optical paths, and mobile ad hoc segments coexist. Pre-2020 research aimed to understand and improve TCP's performance under such diverse conditions by analyzing TCP behavior in scenarios including heterogeneous multipath environments, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), optical high-bandwidth-delay networks, and high-speed wireless systems.
One notable study introduced a performance-analysis model for TCP over multiple heterogeneous paths—relevant for emerging 5G multipath scenarios—highlighting that delay asymmetry, more than bandwidth asymmetry, is the dominant factor degrading throughput, especially when multiple links are active .
Another domain of focus has been mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), where route instability, high bit-error rates, and frequent handovers led to subpar TCP throughput. The study proposed a composite MAC/routing-level framework, Atra, which improved TCP throughput by 50–100% .
In optical networks with high bandwidth-delay products, standard TCP congestion control proved inadequate. Alternatives like TCP Vegas and Westwood outperformed traditional TCP variants under these conditions, but still faced fairness challenges .
In low-power, lossy networks (LLNs), TCP deployed on IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor platforms performed surprisingly well with protocol optimizations, yielding TCP throughput within 25% of theoretical upper bounds and significantly outperforming baseline performance .
Finally, under extremely high mobility—such as LTE on high-speed rail—the performance of TCP variants (CUBIC and BBR) was studied, revealing new inefficiencies. Integrating a custom BBR variant yielded throughput improvements up to 36.5% .
These studies underscore that TCP's standard mechanisms often falter in heterogeneous conditions, and performance improvements require tailored adaptations across layers, mobility-aware congestion control, and multipath-aware modeling.
References
1. Song et al. (2018) – TCP performance model over multiple heterogeneous paths.
2. Song et al. – Analysis of delay vs bandwidth asymmetry impact.
3. Anantharaman et al. (2004) – MANET TCP performance, simulations, Atra framework.
4. Kumar et al. (2018) – TCP performance on LLNs via sensor platforms.
5. Wang et al. (2018) – TCP CUBIC/BBR assessments on high-speed rail measurements.
6. Wang Hui et al. (2016) – IPPM congestion control for heterogeneous networks
