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Preface
This unit presents solutions for a mobile network layer. This layer can be used on top
of different transmission technologies as presented in unit II and III. While mobile IP
is the main topic of the chapter, it discusses also mechanisms such as the dynamic
host configuration protocol and routing in adhoc networks/. Because IP is clearly
dominating data communication networks, it is only natural to extend this protocol
to the mobile domain. The unit discusses the problems associated with IP and
mobility and shows some solutions.
4 .1 TRADINTIONAL TCP
In this unit, difficulties involved in providing Internet support – browsing, email etc -
to the mobile devices such as pagers, PDAs and cell phones etc
Based on unique problems associated with the mobile nodes, a set of solutions have
been developed.
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These are:
Indirect TCP,
Snooping TCP, Mobile TCP,
Fast Retransmit/fast recovery, Transmission / time out
freezing,
Selective retransmission,
Transaction oriented TCP etc
i. Congestion Control:
Control
Once the network system (consisting of routers, bridges, hubs) is
established, the hardware and software become matured and they are not
likely to drop packets or flip bits (0 to 1 or vice versa). However,
temporary overload that occurs when a number of input data (different
input links) being addressed to a particular output link this results in a
congestion of a node. Congestion may occur from time to time. In this
case, the router drops the packets which are observed by the receiver.
When the senders do not receive the ACK for the lost packets, each of
them assumes congestion in the network. As sending the data at full rate
is unwise, each of the senders reduce the data rate which removes the
congestion over a period of time. So even under heavy load, TCP
guarantees at lest sharing of the bandwidth.
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iv Implications on Mobility:
Mobility
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Also error rates, packet loss on wireless links are order of magnitude and
cannot be always compensated by retransmissions or error correction mechanisms.
Mobility itself can cause packet loss. There are many situations when a soft
handover is not possible for mobile end system. This result in loss of packet that are
in transit to the old foreign agent while the nodes move to the new foreign agent.
This loss is nothing to do with wireless access but it is a rerouting problem.
As already brought out, receipt of the three or more ACK for the same
packet is identified as loss of a single packet and appropriate action is taken and loss
of ACK for a time that is much more than RTT is identified as congestion and slow
start mechanism is invoked. Both these cannot be applied for the Mobile devices as
more often, loss of packet can take place for reason other than these as well
Also, for the sake of mobile devices, on cannot change the TCP protocol that
encompasses the inter globe. Hence new methods were devised that are discussed
below:
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IN this the access point acts as a proxy for both fixed and mobile nodes. In
case of fixed nodes, it is the mobile node proxy and in case of mobile host, it is the
fixed node proxy. Foreign agent (access point) is selected as proxy as it controls the
mobility of the most hosts. However one can identify the TCP connection separation
at a special server at the entry point to a mobile network (eg IWF - Inter Working
Function in GSM, GGSN in GPRS etc)
The foreign acts as proxy and relays all data in both directions. What is
important to note in this case is that the foreign agent itself responds to the receipt of
data from either hosts and send ACKs by itself. In case the packet is lost in the
wireless medium, the fixed (correspondent) node will not notice this as the ACK is
already sent by the foreign agent. However, the foreign agent tries to retransmit
this packet locally to maintain reliable data transport. Similarly while the mobile
node sends data to foreign agent, if it is lost, the mobile nodes identifies this much
faster as the RTT up to proxy is very much smaller and it retransmits the lost packet.
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M-TCP splits the TCP connections into two parts. An unmodified TCP is
used on the standard host – Supervisory host (SH) connection while an optimized
TCP is used on the SHJ-MH connection The SH is responsible for exchanging data
between both parts similar to the proxy in I-TCPAs it assumes low bit rate error it
does not perform caching and retransmission of data via SH> If a packet is lost on the
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wireless link, it has to be retransmitted by the original sender. This maintains end to
end semantics.
The SH monitors all packets sent to the MH and ACKs returned from the
MH. IF the SH does not receive an ACK for some time, it assumes that the MH is
disconnected. It then chokes the sender by setting the sender’s window size to 0.
Setting the window size to 0 forces the sender to go into persistent mode. That is
the state of the sender will not change no matter how long the receiver is
disconnected. This means that the sender will not try to retransmit data. As soon as
the SH detects connectivity, it opens the window of the sender to the old value. The
sender can continue sending at full speed. This mechanism does not required
changes to the sender’s TCP.
Advantages:
i) It maintains TCP end to end semantics.
ii) If the MH is disconnected, it avoids useless retransmissions, slow start
or breaking the connection etc by simply shrinking the sender
window’s size to 0.
iii) As lost packets are automatically retransmitted to the new SH, there is
no need to buffer the data whenever, the MH moves to new SH.
Disadvantages:
i) As SH is not a proxy, bit errors are propagated to the sender.
ii) In this case, when a number of nodes move to a new SH, the
bandwidth need to be managed.
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This can be avoided by simulating the fast retransmit method. In this case, when a
MH moves to a new FA, it transmits thee ACK of the last packet was received. It is
indication for the CN to continue transmission at the same rate it did before MH
moves to another FA. This approach puts the CN to fast retransmission mode.
Advantages:
It is simple. Only minor changes in the mobile host software results in
performance increase. No FA or CN host has to be changed.
Disadvantages:
In this the packet losses in the wireless domain are not isolated and are
reflected in the wired domain as well. This results in increased time delay in the
retransmitted packets to move from CN to MH.
v) Transmission / Timeout Freezing:
Normally when the connection is lost, in case of normal TCP, after a time out
period, a disconnection takes place. IN a situation where in a mobile node moving
through a tunnel or passing black out areas, when it comes back, t the connection is
lost and it needs to make connection once again. In this method, this problem is
solved.
Mostly, the MAC layer has already noticed connection problems, before the
connection is actually interrupted from a TCP point of view. IN addition, MAC layer
knows the real reason for the interruption and does not assume congestion as TCP
would. So, in this case, the MAC layer can inform the TCP layer of impeding loss of
connection or that the current interruption is not caused by congestion. The TCP
can now stop sending and freezes the current state of its congestion window and
further timers till once again MAC layer informs it about the connectivity (whenever
it detects).
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Advantage:
The advantage of this approach is that it offers a way to resume TCP
connection even after longer interruptions of the connection. It is independent of
any other TCP mechanism, such as ACKs, sequence numbers etc.
Disadvantages:
i) The software on the mobile host and CN needs to be changed.
ii) Freezing the TCP may not work well with some of the TCP
mechanism that encryption which use time dependent encryption
schemes. These schemes need synchronization after connection.
vi) Selective Retransmission:
In TCP, acknowledgements are cumulative. That is they acknowledge in
order of receipt of packet up to a certain packet. If a single packet is lost, the sender
has to retransmit everything from the lost packet (go back n retransmission.). This
obviously wastes bandwidth. In Selective Retransmissions method, TCP can
indirectly request a selective retransmission of packets. The receiver can
acknowledge single packets, not only trains of in sequence packets. The sender can
now determine precisely which packet is needed and can retransmit it.
The advantages are that sender retransmits only those data that are lost. This
lowers bandwidth requirement. The disadvantage is more complex software on the
MH.
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IF the data requires reliable transport, even for one packet, 7 + 1 packets needs to be
sent. IN case of T TCP,
TCP data can be combined with connection establishment
packet and connection release packet in either direction. This reduces the total
overhead.
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reconnection
Selective Retransmits only Very efficient Slightly more complex receiver
retransmission lost data. software, more buffer space
needed
Transaction Combines Efficient for certain Changes in TCP required not
oriented TCP connection setup-/ applications transparent, security problems.
release and data
retransmission
Summary
Mobility support on the network layer is of special importance, as the network layer
holds together the huge internet with the common protocol IP. Although based on
possibly different wireless or wired technologies, all nodes of the network should be
able to communicate. Mobile IP has been designed to enable mobility in the internet
without changing wired systems. However, mobile IP leaves some points
unresolved, especially when it comes to security, efficiency of the packet flow and
support for quality of service. Some of these issues are addressed in IP version 6
making working with mobility much simpler. DHCP offers a fully automatic
mechanism for a node to acquire all the necessary information to be integrated into a
network, supporting installation of new computers and the integration of mobile
computers into networks. DHCP will be a major source of care-of-addresses needed
for mobile IP. Adhoc networks are new way of setting up mobile communication if
not infrastructure is available. In these networks routing is a major topic, because
there is not base station that can reach all nodes via broadcast as in cellular networks.
Traditionally routing algorithms do not work at all in the highly dynamic
environment of adhoc networks, and hence extensions of existing methodologies
were discussed.
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Key Terms
IP – Internet Protocol
DHCP- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
IPv6 – Internet Protocol version 6
AODV – Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector
DSDV – Destination Sequence Distance Vector
DSR-Dynamic Source Routing
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Part B
1. Explain traditional TCP.
Congestion Control
Slow start
Fast retransmit/fast recovery
Implications on mobility
2. Explain classical TCP improvements
Indirect TCP
Snooping TCP
Mobile TCP
Fast retransmit/fast recovery
Selective retransmission
Transaction oriented TCP
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References
http://cst.mi.fu-berlin.de/resources/mobkom/material/English/PDF-
Handout/C08-Network_Protocols.pdf
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