On making TCP more robust to packet reordering

Abstract

Previous research indicates that packet reordering is not a rare event on some Internet paths. Reordering can cause performance problems for TCP's fast retransmission algorithm, which uses the arrival of duplicate acknowledgments to detect segment loss. Duplicate acknowledgments can be caused by the loss of a segment or by the reordering of segments by the network. In this paper we illustrate the impact of reordering on TCP performance. In addition, we show the performance of a conservative approach to "undo" the congestion control state changes made in conjunction with spurious retransmissions. Finally, we propose several alternatives to dynamically make the fast retransmission algorithm more tolerant of the reordering observed in the network and assess these algorithms.