SEARCH: Robust TCP Slow Start Performance over Satellite Networks

Abstract

—TCP slow start begins at a conservative bitrate but quickly ramps up to the available bandwidth. Unfortunately, current TCP implementations can either: 1) exit from slow start prematurely, which is especially detrimental to utilization on satellite links, or 2) exit from slow start too late, causing unnecessary packet loss. We propose a novel technique to exit slow start while avoiding both premature and belated exits. We evaluate our approach over commercial satellite links – long, fat networks that pose challenges to determining the right slow start exit time. Preliminary results show a high success rate for picking appropriate exit points over satellite links, with potentially being applicable to other types of networks, more generally.