TRANSAT
Transport Protocol and Communication Resource Management
for Mobile Satellite Networks
Project Objectives
The Internet TCP protocol, part of the TCP/IP suite, is one of the
cornerstones of the Internet. However, TCP was not designed for optimising
resource usage, and has inherent performance problems over many types of
satellite links, in particular mobile links. In order to make efficient use
of expensive satellite transponder resources, many satellite communication
networks use various types of Dynamic Assignment Multiple Access (DAMA)
protocols for allocating resources according to the instantaneous needs of
the various data streams in the system. Such protocols are typically found
in mobile satellite communication as well as in many VSAT systems.
The aim of the project is to develop the functions and performance of
Internet transport protocols in a satellite environment. The project focuses
on two main fields. The first is the end-to-end TCP protocol enhancements by
improving the sending and receiving algorithms of TCP, and to improve the
support offered to the transport level at link level. The second is the
enhancement of resource management for the satellite link, and on the IP
level, the connection of differentiated packet treatment (QoS) to the QoS
support offered by a satellite link. A prototype implementation will be made
based on the suggested solutions, and finally, experiments will be performed
to validate the implementation and to evaluate its performance.
