Improving TCP performance over a common IoT scenario using the Early Window method

The Internet of Things (IoT) is already a reality in homes, transforming the home network into a complex composition of different equipment where each one has its own attributes in terms of TCP protocol variants, transmission speed, reliability and delay. In home network scenarios where IoT devices are used, it is common to have a 802.11 environment with several devices sharing the same Access Point (AP). When TCP is used in this environment its performance is affected by many things, such as wireless link losses, queue saturation on access points, and fairness. To improve the TCP performance in these scenarios, this paper presents a new version of the Early Window Tailoring (EWT) approach. The EWT-IoT do not require any modification in the TCP, and it does not require that all routers in the path use the same Active Queue Management (AQM), the use in the AP is sufficient. To evaluate its performance, comparison tests against drop-tail, RED, ARED and EWA were performed. The EWT-IoT proved to be effective in congestion control, achieving greater performance than the other approaches, reducing the transfer time, having a superior goodput, maintaining a satisfactory fairness, and presenting no losses. Also, the EWT-IoT allowed the existence of a number of flows on average 65.2% better than its best competitor and 71.3% better when no AQM scheme was used.

Automated summary

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a reality in homes, creating complex home networks with various devices that have different attributes affecting TCP performance. In home networks with IoT devices, the new version of Early Window Tailoring (EWT-IoT) approach is introduced to enhance TCP performance without requiring modifications in TCP or universal use of Active Queue Management (AQM). Evaluation tests showed that EWT-IoT effectively controls congestion, outperforming other approaches, reducing transfer time, maintaining fairness, and achieving no losses. Moreover, EWT-IoT allows for a significantly higher number of concurrent flows compared to its competitors and when no AQM scheme is used.