Theoretical analysis of TCP throughput in adhoc wireless networks

Researchers have used extensive simulation and experimental studies to understand TCP performance in adhoc wireless networks. In contrast, the objective of this paper is to theoretically analyze TCP performance in this environment. By examining the case of running one TCP session over a string topology, a system model for analyzing TCP performance in adhoc wireless networks is proposed, which considers packet buffering, nodes’ contention for access to the wireless channel, and spatial reuse of the wireless channel. Markov chain modelling is applied to analyze this system model. Analytical results show that when the number of hops that the TCP session crosses is fixed, the TCP throughput is independent of the TCP congestion window size. When the number of hops increases from one, the TCP throughput decreases first, and then stabilizes when the number of hops becomes large. The analysis is validated by comparing the numerical and simulation results.