TCP-Friendly
Introduction
This website summarizes some of the recent work on congestion control algorithms for non-TCP based applications, with a specific focus on those congestion control schemes that use the "TCP-friendly" equation, (that is, maintaining the arrival rate to at most some constant over the square root of the packet loss rate). All applications, no matter how large or small, should perform adaptive congestion control. There are several reasons for this:
- Applications which perform congestion control make more efficient use of the network and should generally see better performance because of it.
- Applications which adapt to the network are capable of running over a much wider range bandwidths and are hence more useful in the Internet.
- Congestion control algorithms prevent the network from entering Congestive Collapse. Congestive Collapse is a situation where, although the network links are being heavily utilized, very little useful work is being done. (Think of metropolitan traffic gridlock...)
- The network will soon begin to require applications to perform congestion control, and those applications which do not perform congestion control will be harshly penalized by the network (probably in the form of preferentially dropping their packets during times of congestion).
A number of recent efforts have studied TCP-Friendly means of congestion control for non-TCP applications. This website is a compendium of known research on the subject. As with other websites of this sort, it is largely maintained by contributions from the community, so if you know of work in this area, please send it along to us.
Current Research
- The TCP-Friendly algorithm and experiences with it.
- TCP performance and the 1/sqrt(p) algorithm.
- Jitendra Padhye's web page on Papers on TCP modeling and related topics.
Links to papers documenting the TCP-Friendly algorithm and experiences with it
For more recent papers on this topic, please see Jitendra Padhye's web page on Papers on TCP modeling and related topics.
- J. Mahdavi, S. Floyd,
TCP-Friendly Unicast Rate-Based Flow Control,
Technical note sent to the end2end-interest mailing list,
January 8, 1997.
This short web paper describes a simple algorithm which can be used by rate-based applications and should share bandwidth fairly with TCP connections.
- Adaptive Applications Support BOF (adapts). This BOF on the subject was held at the 40th IETF, December 9, 1997, in Washington D.C. The online agenda seems to have disappeared, unfortunately.
- T. Turletti, Parisis, J. Bolot, Experiments with a
Layered Transmission Scheme over the Internet.
This paper outlines some experimental results using a TCP-friendly rate control algorithm in an audio application.
- D. Sisalem, H. Schulzrinne,
The Loss-Delay Adjustment Algorithm: A TCP-friendly Adaptation
Scheme, Network and Operating System Support for
Digital Audio and Video (NOSSDAV), Cambridge, UK, July 8-10,
1998.
"This paper presents the loss-delay based adjustment algorithm (LDA) for adapting the transmission rate of multimedia applications to the congestion level of the network. The LDA algorithm was designed to reduce losses and improve utilization in a TCP-friendly way that avoids starving competing TCP connections. It relies on the end-to-end Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) for feedback information. In addition, we enhanced RTP with functionalities for determining the bottleneck bandwidth of a connection. "
- D. Sisalem, F. Emanuel, H. Schulzrinne, The Direct Adjustment Algorithm: A TCP-Friendly Adaptation
Scheme
"This study presents a new scheme for adapting the transmission rate of multimedia applications to the congestion level of the network. The scheme is called the direct adjustment algorithm (DAA). It is based on the TCP congestion control mechanisms and relies on the end-to-end Real Time transport Protocol (RTP) for feedback information. Our investigations of the DAA scheme suggest the efficiency of the scheme in utilizing network resources and decreasing loss ratios. Also, the scheme is shown to be fair towards competing TCP traffic."
- Lorenzo Vicisano, Luigi Rizzo (Pisa) and Jon Crowcroft,
TCP-like
Congestion Control for Layered Multicast Data Transfer.
To appear in INFOCOM 98.
This paper presents a congestion control algorithm for layered multicast traffic that is based on the TCP-friendly equation in combination with synchronization points and sender-initiated probes.
- W. Tan and A. Zakhor, Error Resilient Packet Video for
the Internet (
postscript), submitted to ICIP 98. This work is described
further on Dan Tan's web page on Real-time Internet Video
Transport.
This paper describes experiments with an Internet video transport scheme that combines a low-delay TCP-friendly transport protocol with an error-resilient layered compression mechanism.
- Reza Rejaie, Mark Handley, and Deborah Estrin, RAP: An
End-to-end Rate-based Congestion Control Mechanism for Realtime
Streams in the Internet (postscript
). To appear in IEEE INFOCOMM 99 .
This paper presents RAP, an end-to-end rate-based congestion control mechanism based on an additive-increase, multiplicative-decrease algorithm that exhibits TCP-friendly behavior over a large time-scale.
- Jitendra Padhye, Jim Kurose, Don Towsley and Rajeev Koodli,
A TCP-Friendly Rate Adjustment Protocol for Continuous Media
Flows over Best Effort Networks, UMass-CMPSCI Technical
Report TR 98-04, October 1998.
This paper presents a congestion control algorithm for unicast traffic using the authors' modified version of the TCP-friendly equation.
"After each round of M time units, the sender estimates the roundtrip time. If any packets were lost in that round, then the sender sets the sending rate to that specified by the TCP-friendly equation for the loss rate experienced during that round. If no packets were lost in that round, then the sender doubles the sending rate. Simulations and experiments explore the behavior of this algorithm. The use of fixed rounds is a baseline policy against which alternate techniques for estimation of the packet loss rate will be compared."
- B. Whetten, J. Conlan, A Rate
Based Congestion Control Scheme for Reliable Multicast.
Technical White Paper, GlobalCast Communications, October 1998.
This paper includes an evaluation of the adaptive range of congestion control characterized by of the TCP-friendly equation.
- Wai-tian Tan and Avideh Zhakor,
Multicast Transmission of Scalable Video using Receiver-driven
Hierarchical FEC, viewgraphs, October 1999.
This talk considers layered video with hierarchical layers of FEC data, where each receiver subscribes to a number of data and FEC layers. In the implementation, the receivers use an equation-based approach to determine the available bandwidth.
- Sally Floyd, Mark Handley, Jitendra Padhye, and Joerg
Widmer, Equation-Based
Congestion Control for Unicast Applications: the Extended
Version, International Computer Science Institute tech
report TR-00-003, March 2000.
This paper proposes a mechanism for equation-based congestion control for unicast traffic. The proposed mechanism attempts to provide responsiveness to persistent congestion, avoidance of unnecessary oscillations, avoidance of the introduction of unnecessary noise, and robustness over a wide range of timescales.
- RMCC: Several people in the community maintain
websites dedicated to congestion control for reliable multicast.
These provide additional links on applications of the
TCP-friendly algorithm to congestion control for Reliable
Multicast transport protocols.
- Reliable Multicast Links. This website, maintained by Todd Montgomery, includes a whole section on RMCC.
- RMTP-II Research and Standardization. This website includes additional papers and presentations by Whetten, et. al. on application of TCP-friendly to RMCC.
- The Reliable Multicast Research Group. This is the homepage for the RMRG of the IRTF.
- Reliable Multicast Transport (rmt). This is the charter for the IETF rmt working group.
Links to papers analyzing TCP performance and the 1/sqrt(p) formula
- Floyd, S., Connections
with Multiple Congested Gateways in Packet-Switched Networks
Part 1: One-way Traffic. Computer Communication
Review, Vol.21, No.5, October 1991, p. 30-47.
Section 5 of this paper introduces a simple "steady-state" model for analyzing additive-increase/multiplicative-decrease algorithms, and explores the relationship between the steady-state packet drop rate and connection roundtrip times, numbers of congested gateways, and window increase/decrease algorithms.
- Floyd, S., and Jacobson, V., On Traffic Phase Effects
in Packet-Switched Gateways (compressed pos
tscript, pdf).
Internetworking: Research and Experience, V.3 N.3, September
1992, p.115-156.
Section 3.3 of this paper discusses the relationship between TCP throughput and roundtrip times, and discusses a modified TCP window increase algorithm that would eliminate the dependence on the roundtrip time.
- T. Ott, J.H.B. Kemperman, M. Mathis, The
Stationary Behavior of Ideal TCP Congestion
Avoidance.
This paper provides a detailed derivation of the 1/sqrt(p) performance model for TCP Congestion Avoidance. August 1996.
- T. Ott, J.H.B. Kemperman, M. Mathis, Window Size
Behavior in TCP/IP with Constant Loss Probability.
This paper is very similar in content to Stationary Behavior (above). November, 1996.
- Floyd, S., and Fall, K.,
Promoting the Use of End-to-End Congestion Control in the
Internet. Under submission, February 1998.
The Appendix of this paper discusses the "TCP-friendly" equation in some detail, gives the derivation in a simple "steady-state" model, and compares the equation with results from simulations.
- T. V. Lakshman, U. Madhow, B. Suter,
Window-based Error Recovery and Flow Control with a Slow
Acknowledgement Channel: a Study of TCP/IP
Performance, Proceedings of Infocom '97, April 1997.
Section 3.4 of this paper derives the formula for throughput vs. loss taking into account reverse path congestion. The constant in the p^(-1/2) result is modified by the ratio of transmission time of data packets divided by transmission time of ack packets.
- Henderson, T. and E. Sahouria,
Improving Fairness of TCP Congestion Avoidance,
Class project (WORK IN PROGRESS), May 1997.
This paper explores the relationship between TCP throughput and roundtrip times for a range of TCP window increase/decrease algorithms.
- T. V. Lakshman, U. Madhow, The Performance of Networks with High Bandwidth-delay
Products and Random Loss, IEEE/ACM Transactions on
Networking, June 1997.
Section 4 of this paper derives an approximate formula for loss vs. throughput. Section 5 has an approximate analysis of multiple TCP connections with different round-trip times sharing a bottleneck link.
- M. Mathis, J. Semke, J. Mahdavi, T. Ott, "
The Macroscopic Behavior of the TCP Congestion Avoidance
Algorithm",Computer Communication
Review, volume 27, number3, July 1997.
This paper compares TCP performance to the inverse-square-root of packet-loss model.
- Balakrishnan, H., How do Different Congestion
Control and Avoidance Policies Influence Packet Loss
Rates?, December 1997.
"While throughput is proportional to 1/sqrt(p) for additive-increase/multiplicative-decrease window algorithms, for "p" the packet drop rate, throughput is proportional to 1/p for multiplicative-increase/multiplicative-decrease, additive-increase/additive-decrease, and additive-decrease/multiplicative-increase algorithms." (URL to be posted shortly.)
- Padhye, J., Firoiu, V., Towsley, D., and Kurose, J.,
Modeling TCP Throughput: a Simple Model
and its Empirical Validation, UMASS CMPSCI Tech
Report TR98-008, Feb. 1998.
This paper gives a characterization of TCP's steady state throughput, as a function of loss rate and RTT, that takes into account retransmit timeouts.
- J. Padhye, V. Firoiu and D. Towsley, A
Stochastic Model of TCP Reno Congestion Avoidance and
Control, Technical Report 99-02, Department of
Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
This report provides an in-depth stochastic analysis following the ideas in TR98-008 above.
- S. Savari and E. Telatar, The Behavior of
Stochastic Processes Arising in Window Protocols,
Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Symposium on
Information Theory, June 1999.
This paper models a broad class of window-based protocols based on AIMD window algorithms. As a special case, the paper considers cases where the packet drop rate is a function of the window size.
Sally Floyd < floyd@ee.lbl.gov>
(with help from many others)
Jamshid research is now fully supported by Novell.
Jamshid's work at PSC was generously funded by the National
Science Foundation.
Last modified: June, 1999