Chapter 3

Transport Layer

Computer Networking:
A Top Down Approach
5th edition.
Jim Kurose, Keith Ross
Addison-Wesley, April
2009.

Transport Layer 3-1

Chapter 3: Transport Layer

Our goals:
 understand principles  learn about transport
behind transport layer protocols in the
layer services: Internet:
 multiplexing/demultipl  UDP: connectionless
exing transport
 reliable data transfer  TCP: connection-oriented
 flow control transport
 congestion control  TCP congestion control

Transport Layer 3-2

1
Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-3

Transport services and protocols

application
transport
 provide logical communication network
data link
between app processes physical

running on different hosts

 transport protocols run in
end systems
 send side: breaks app
messages into segments,
passes to network layer
 rcv side: reassembles application
transport
segments into messages, network
data link
passes to app layer physical

 more than one transport

protocol available to apps
 Internet: TCP and UDP

Transport Layer 3-4

2
 Transport vs. network layer
 network layer: logical
communication
between hosts
 transport layer: logical
communication
between processes
relies on, enhances,

network layer services
Household analogy:
12 kids sending letters to
12 kids
 processes = kids
 app messages = letters
in envelopes
 hosts = houses
 transport protocol =
Ann and Bill
 network-layer protocol
= postal service

Transport Layer 3-5

Internet transport-layer protocols

 reliable, in-order
application
transport
network
delivery (TCP) data link
physical
network
 congestion control data link
network
physical
data link
 flow control physical

 connection setup
 unreliable, unordered
network
data link
physicalnetwork
delivery: UDP data link
physical
 no-frills extension of network
data link
“best-effort” IP
application
physical network transport
data link network
 services not available:
physical data link
physical

 delay guarantees
 bandwidth guarantees

Transport Layer 3-6

3
Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-7

Multiplexing/demultiplexing
Demultiplexing at rcv host: Multiplexing at send host:
gathering data from multiple
delivering received segments
sockets, enveloping data with
to correct socket
header (later used for
demultiplexing)
= socket = process

application P3 P1
P1 application P2 P4 application

transport transport transport

network network network

link link link

physical physical physical

host 2 host 3
host 1
Transport Layer 3-8

4
How demultiplexing works
 host receives IP datagrams
each datagram has source 32 bits
IP address, destination IP
address source port # dest port #

 each datagram carries 1

transport-layer segment other header fields
 each segment has source,
destination port number
 host uses IP addresses & port application
numbers to direct segment to data
appropriate socket (message)

TCP/UDP segment format

Transport Layer 3-9

Connectionless demultiplexing
 Create sockets with port
numbers:
DatagramSocket mySocket1 = new
DatagramSocket(12534);
DatagramSocket mySocket2 = new
DatagramSocket(12535);
 UDP socket identified by
two-tuple:
(dest IP address, dest port number)
 When host receives UDP
segment:
 checks destination port
number in segment
 directs UDP segment to
socket with that port
number
 IP datagrams with
different source IP
addresses and/or source
port numbers directed
to same socket

Transport Layer 3-10

5
 Connectionless demux (cont)
DatagramSocket serverSocket = new DatagramSocket(6428);

P2 P1
P1
P3

SP: 6428 SP: 6428

DP: 9157 DP: 5775

SP: 9157 SP: 5775

client DP: 6428 DP: 6428 Client
server
IP: A IP: C IP:B

SP provides “return address”

Transport Layer 3-11

Connection-oriented demux
 TCP socket identified
by 4-tuple:
 source IP address
 source port number
 dest IP address
 dest port number
 receiving host uses all
four values to direct
segment to appropriate
socket
 Server host may support
many simultaneous TCP
sockets:
 each socket identified by
its own 4-tuple
 Web servers have
different sockets for
each connecting client
 non-persistent HTTP will
have different socket for
each request

Transport Layer 3-12

6
Connection-oriented demux
(cont)

P1 P4 P5 P6 P2 P1P3

SP: 5775
DP: 80
S-IP: B
D-IP:C

SP: 9157 SP: 9157

client DP: 80 DP: 80 Client
server
IP: A S-IP: A
IP: C S-IP: B IP:B
D-IP:C D-IP:C

Transport Layer 3-13

Connection-oriented demux:
Threaded Web Server

P1 P4 P2 P1P3

SP: 5775
DP: 80
S-IP: B
D-IP:C

SP: 9157 SP: 9157

client DP: 80 DP: 80 Client
server
IP: A S-IP: A
IP: C S-IP: B IP:B
D-IP:C D-IP:C

Transport Layer 3-14

7
Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer
services
 3.2 Multiplexing and
demultiplexing
 3.3 Connectionless
transport: UDP
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer
UDP: User Datagram Protocol [RFC 768]
 “no frills,” “bare bones”
Internet transport
protocol
 “best effort” service, UDP
segments may be:
 lost
 delivered out of order
to app
 connectionless:
 no handshaking between
UDP sender, receiver
 each UDP segment
handled independently
of others
 3.5 Connection-oriented
transport: TCP
 segment structure
 reliable data transfer
flow control

connection management

 3.6 Principles of
congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control
Transport Layer 3-15
Why is there a UDP?
 no connection
establishment (which can
add delay)
 simple: no connection state
at sender, receiver
 small segment header
 no congestion control: UDP
can blast away as fast as
desired
Transport Layer 3-16
8
UDP: more
 often used for streaming
multimedia apps 32 bits

 loss tolerant Length, in source port # dest port #

 rate sensitive bytes of UDP length checksum
segment,
 other UDP uses including
 DNS header
 SNMP
 reliable transfer over UDP: Application
add reliability at data
application layer (message)
 application-specific
error recovery!
UDP segment format

Transport Layer 3-17

UDP checksum
Goal: detect “errors” (e.g., flipped bits) in transmitted
segment

Sender:
 treat segment contents
as sequence of 16-bit
integers
 checksum: addition (1’s
complement sum) of
segment contents
 sender puts checksum
value into UDP checksum
field
Receiver:
 compute checksum of
received segment
 check if computed checksum
equals checksum field value:
 NO - error detected
 YES - no error detected.
But maybe errors
nonetheless? More later
….

Transport Layer 3-18

9
 Internet Checksum Example
 Note
 When adding numbers, a carryout from the
most significant bit needs to be added to the
result
 Example: add two 16-bit integers

1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

wraparound 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1

sum 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
checksum 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Transport Layer 3-19

Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-20

10
Principles of Reliable data transfer
 important in app., transport, link layers
 top-10 list of important networking topics!

 characteristics of unreliable channel will determine

complexity of reliable data transfer protocol (rdt)
Transport Layer 3-21

Principles of Reliable data transfer

 important in app., transport, link layers
 top-10 list of important networking topics!

 characteristics of unreliable channel will determine

complexity of reliable data transfer protocol (rdt)
Transport Layer 3-22

11
 Principles of Reliable data transfer
 important in app., transport, link layers
 top-10 list of important networking topics!

 characteristics of unreliable channel will determine

complexity of reliable data transfer protocol (rdt)
Transport Layer 3-23

Reliable data transfer: getting started

rdt_send(): called from above, deliver_data(): called by
(e.g., by app.). Passed data to rdt to deliver data to upper
deliver to receiver upper layer

send receive
side side

udt_send(): called by rdt, rdt_rcv(): called when packet

to transfer packet over arrives on rcv-side of channel
unreliable channel to receiver

Transport Layer 3-24

12
Reliable data transfer: getting started
We’ll:
 incrementally develop sender, receiver sides of
reliable data transfer protocol (rdt)
 consider only unidirectional data transfer
 but control info will flow on both directions!
 use finite state machines (FSM) to specify
sender, receiver
event causing state transition
actions taken on state transition
state: when in this
“state” next state state state
1 event
uniquely determined 2
by next event actions

Transport Layer 3-25

Rdt1.0: reliable transfer over a reliable channel

 underlying channel perfectly reliable
 no bit errors
 no loss of packets

 separate FSMs for sender, receiver:

 sender sends data into underlying channel
 receiver read data from underlying channel

Wait for rdt_send(data) Wait for rdt_rcv(packet)

call from call from extract (packet,data)
above packet = make_pkt(data) below deliver_data(data)
udt_send(packet)

sender receiver

Transport Layer 3-26

13
Rdt2.0: channel with bit errors
 underlying channel may flip bits in packet
 checksum to detect bit errors

 the question: how to recover from errors:

 acknowledgements (ACKs): receiver explicitly tells sender
that pkt received OK
 negative acknowledgements (NAKs): receiver explicitly
tells sender that pkt had errors
 sender retransmits pkt on receipt of NAK
 new mechanisms in rdt2.0 (beyond rdt1.0):
 error detection
 receiver feedback: control msgs (ACK,NAK) rcvr->sender

Transport Layer 3-27

rdt2.0: FSM specification

rdt_send(data)
snkpkt = make_pkt(data, checksum) receiver
udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
isNAK(rcvpkt)
Wait for Wait for rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
call from ACK or udt_send(sndpkt) corrupt(rcvpkt)
above NAK
udt_send(NAK)

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && isACK(rcvpkt)

Wait for

call from
sender below

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
udt_send(ACK)

Transport Layer 3-28

14
rdt2.0: operation with no errors
rdt_send(data)
snkpkt = make_pkt(data, checksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
isNAK(rcvpkt)
Wait for Wait for rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
call from ACK or udt_send(sndpkt) corrupt(rcvpkt)
above NAK
udt_send(NAK)

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && isACK(rcvpkt)

Wait for
 call from
below

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
udt_send(ACK)

Transport Layer 3-29

rdt2.0: error scenario

rdt_send(data)
snkpkt = make_pkt(data, checksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
isNAK(rcvpkt)
Wait for Wait for rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
call from ACK or udt_send(sndpkt) corrupt(rcvpkt)
above NAK
udt_send(NAK)

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && isACK(rcvpkt)

Wait for
 call from
below

rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
udt_send(ACK)

Transport Layer 3-30

15
rdt2.0 has a fatal flaw!
What happens if Handling duplicates:
ACK/NAK corrupted?  sender retransmits current
 sender doesn’t know what pkt if ACK/NAK garbled
happened at receiver!  sender adds sequence
 can’t just retransmit: number to each pkt
possible duplicate  receiver discards (doesn’t
deliver up) duplicate pkt

stop and wait

Sender sends one packet,
then waits for receiver
response

Transport Layer 3-31

rdt2.1: sender, handles garbled ACK/NAKs

rdt_send(data)
sndpkt = make_pkt(0, data, checksum)
udt_send(sndpkt) rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
( corrupt(rcvpkt) ||
Wait for Wait for
ACK or
isNAK(rcvpkt) )
call 0 from
NAK 0 udt_send(sndpkt)
above
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& notcorrupt(rcvpkt) rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& isACK(rcvpkt) && notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
&& isACK(rcvpkt)


Wait for Wait for
ACK or call 1 from
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && NAK 1 above
( corrupt(rcvpkt) ||
isNAK(rcvpkt) ) rdt_send(data)

udt_send(sndpkt) sndpkt = make_pkt(1, data, checksum)

udt_send(sndpkt)

Transport Layer 3-32

16
 rdt2.1: receiver, handles garbled ACK/NAKs
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
&& has_seq0(rcvpkt)
extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
sndpkt = make_pkt(ACK, chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && (corrupt(rcvpkt) rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && (corrupt(rcvpkt)
sndpkt = make_pkt(NAK, chksum) sndpkt = make_pkt(NAK, chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt) udt_send(sndpkt)
Wait for Wait for
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && 0 from 1 from rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
not corrupt(rcvpkt) && below below not corrupt(rcvpkt) &&
has_seq1(rcvpkt) has_seq0(rcvpkt)
sndpkt = make_pkt(ACK, chksum) sndpkt = make_pkt(ACK, chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt) udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
&& has_seq1(rcvpkt)

extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
sndpkt = make_pkt(ACK, chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)

Transport Layer 3-33

rdt2.1: discussion
Sender: Receiver:
 seq # added to pkt  must check if received
 two seq. #’s (0,1) will packet is duplicate
suffice. Why?  state indicates whether
0 or 1 is expected pkt
 must check if received seq #
ACK/NAK corrupted
 note: receiver can not
 twice as many states know if its last
 state must “remember” ACK/NAK received OK
whether “current” pkt
at sender
has 0 or 1 seq. #

Transport Layer 3-34

17
 rdt2.2: a NAK-free protocol

 same functionality as rdt2.1, using ACKs only

 instead of NAK, receiver sends ACK for last pkt
received OK
 receiver must explicitly include seq # of pkt being ACKed
 duplicate ACK at sender results in same action as
NAK: retransmit current pkt

Transport Layer 3-35

rdt2.2: sender, receiver fragments

rdt_send(data)
sndpkt = make_pkt(0, data, checksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
( corrupt(rcvpkt) ||
Wait for Wait for
ACK isACK(rcvpkt,1) )
call 0 from
above 0 udt_send(sndpkt)
sender FSM
fragment rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && && isACK(rcvpkt,0)
(corrupt(rcvpkt) || 
has_seq1(rcvpkt)) Wait for receiver FSM
0 from
udt_send(sndpkt) below fragment
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) && notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
&& has_seq1(rcvpkt)
extract(rcvpkt,data)
deliver_data(data)
sndpkt = make_pkt(ACK1, chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt) Transport Layer 3-36

18
rdt3.0: channels with errors and loss

New assumption: Approach: sender waits

underlying channel can “reasonable” amount of
also lose packets (data time for ACK
or ACKs)  retransmits if no ACK
 checksum, seq. #, ACKs, received in this time
retransmissions will be  if pkt (or ACK) just delayed
of help, but not enough (not lost):
 retransmission will be
duplicate, but use of seq.
#’s already handles this
 receiver must specify seq
# of pkt being ACKed
 requires countdown timer

Transport Layer 3-37

rdt3.0 sender
rdt_send(data)
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
sndpkt = make_pkt(0, data, checksum) ( corrupt(rcvpkt) ||
udt_send(sndpkt) isACK(rcvpkt,1) )
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) start_timer 
 Wait for Wait
for timeout
call 0from
ACK0 udt_send(sndpkt)
above
start_timer
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& notcorrupt(rcvpkt) rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& isACK(rcvpkt,1) && notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
stop_timer && isACK(rcvpkt,0)
stop_timer
Wait Wait for
timeout for call 1 from
udt_send(sndpkt) ACK1 above
start_timer rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
rdt_send(data) 
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
( corrupt(rcvpkt) || sndpkt = make_pkt(1, data, checksum)
isACK(rcvpkt,0) ) udt_send(sndpkt)
start_timer


Transport Layer 3-38

19
rdt3.0 in action

Transport Layer 3-39

rdt3.0 in action

Transport Layer 3-40

20
 Performance of rdt3.0

 rdt3.0 works, but performance stinks

 ex: 1 Gbps link, 15 ms prop. delay, 8000 bit packet:

L 8000bits
d trans    8 microseconds
R 109 bps
 U sender: utilization – fraction of time sender busy sending

U L/R .008
= = = 0.00027
sender 30.008
RTT + L / R
 1KB pkt every 30 msec -> 33kB/sec thruput over 1 Gbps link
 network protocol limits use of physical resources!

Transport Layer 3-41

rdt3.0: stop-and-wait operation

sender receiver
first packet bit transmitted, t = 0
last packet bit transmitted, t = L / R

first packet bit arrives

RTT last packet bit arrives, send ACK

ACK arrives, send next

packet, t = RTT + L / R

U L/R .008
= = = 0.00027
sender 30.008
RTT + L / R

Transport Layer 3-42

21
 Pipelined protocols
Pipelining: sender allows multiple, “in-flight”, yet-to-
be-acknowledged pkts
 range of sequence numbers must be increased
 buffering at sender and/or receiver

 Two generic forms of pipelined protocols: go-Back-N,

selective repeat
Transport Layer 3-43

Pipelining: increased utilization

sender receiver
first packet bit transmitted, t = 0
last bit transmitted, t = L / R

first packet bit arrives

RTT last packet bit arrives, send ACK
last bit of 2nd packet arrives, send ACK
last bit of 3rd packet arrives, send ACK
ACK arrives, send next
packet, t = RTT + L / R

Increase utilization
by a factor of 3!

U 3*L/R .024
= = = 0.0008
sender 30.008
RTT + L / R

Transport Layer 3-44

22
Pipelining Protocols
Go-back-N: overview
 sender: up to N
unACKed pkts in
pipeline
 receiver: only sends
cumulative ACKs
 doesn’t ACK pkt if
there’s a gap
 sender: has timer for
oldest unACKed pkt
 if timer expires:
retransmit all unACKed
packets
Selective Repeat: overview
 sender: up to N unACKed
packets in pipeline
 receiver: ACKs individual
pkts
 sender: maintains timer
for each unACKed pkt
 if timer expires: retransmit
only unACKed packet

Transport Layer 3-45

Go-Back-N
Sender:
 k-bit seq # in pkt header
 “window” of up to N, consecutive unACKed pkts allowed

 ACK(n): ACKs all pkts up to, including seq # n - “cumulative ACK”

 may receive duplicate ACKs (see receiver)
 timer for each in-flight pkt
 timeout(n): retransmit pkt n and all higher seq # pkts in window

Transport Layer 3-46

23
GBN: sender extended FSM
rdt_send(data)
if (nextseqnum < base+N) {
sndpkt[nextseqnum] = make_pkt(nextseqnum,data,chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt[nextseqnum])
if (base == nextseqnum)
start_timer
nextseqnum++
}
 else
refuse_data(data)
base=1
nextseqnum=1
timeout
start_timer
Wait
udt_send(sndpkt[base])
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) udt_send(sndpkt[base+1])
&& corrupt(rcvpkt) …
udt_send(sndpkt[nextseqnum-1])
rdt_rcv(rcvpkt) &&
notcorrupt(rcvpkt)
base = getacknum(rcvpkt)+1
If (base == nextseqnum)
stop_timer
else
start_timer Transport Layer 3-47

GBN: receiver extended FSM

default
udt_send(sndpkt) rdt_rcv(rcvpkt)
&& notcurrupt(rcvpkt)
 && hasseqnum(rcvpkt,expectedseqnum)
expectedseqnum=1 Wait extract(rcvpkt,data)
sndpkt = deliver_data(data)
make_pkt(expectedseqnum,ACK,chksum) sndpkt = make_pkt(expectedseqnum,ACK,chksum)
udt_send(sndpkt)
expectedseqnum++

ACK-only: always send ACK for correctly-received pkt

with highest in-order seq #
 may generate duplicate ACKs
 need only remember expectedseqnum
 out-of-order pkt:
 discard (don’t buffer) -> no receiver buffering!
 Re-ACK pkt with highest in-order seq #
Transport Layer 3-48

24
GBN in
action

Transport Layer 3-49

Selective Repeat
 receiver individually acknowledges all correctly
received pkts
 buffers pkts, as needed, for eventual in-order delivery
to upper layer
 sender only resends pkts for which ACK not
received
 sender timer for each unACKed pkt
 sender window
 N consecutive seq #’s
 again limits seq #s of sent, unACKed pkts

Transport Layer 3-50

25
Selective repeat: sender, receiver windows
Selective repeat
sender
data from above :
 if next available seq # in
window, send pkt
timeout(n):
 resend pkt n, restart timer
ACK(n) in [sendbase,sendbase+N]:
 mark pkt n as received
 if n smallest unACKed pkt,
advance window base to
next unACKed seq #
Transport Layer 3-51
receiver
pkt n in [rcvbase, rcvbase+N-1]
 send ACK(n)
 out-of-order: buffer
 in-order: deliver (also
deliver buffered, in-order
pkts), advance window to
next not-yet-received pkt
pkt n in [rcvbase-N,rcvbase-1]
 ACK(n)
otherwise:
 ignore
Transport Layer 3-52
26
Selective repeat in action

Transport Layer 3-53

Selective repeat:
dilemma
Example:
 seq #’s: 0, 1, 2, 3
 window size=3

 receiver sees no
difference in two
scenarios!
 incorrectly passes
duplicate data as new
in (a)

Q: what relationship
between seq # size
and window size?
Transport Layer 3-54

27
 Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-55

TCP: Overview RFCs: 793, 1122, 1323, 2018, 2581

 point-to-point:  full duplex data:

 one sender, one receiver  bi-directional data flow

 reliable, in-order byte in same connection

 MSS: maximum segment
steam:
size
 no “message boundaries”
 connection-oriented:
 pipelined:
 handshaking (exchange
 TCP congestion and flow
of control msgs) init’s
control set window size sender, receiver state
 send & receive buffers before data exchange
 flow controlled:
 sender will not
application application
writes data reads data
socket socket

overwhelm receiver
door door
TCP TCP
send buffer receive buffer
segment

Transport Layer 3-56

28
 TCP segment structure
32 bits
URG: urgent data counting
(generally not used) source port # dest port #
by bytes
sequence number of data
ACK: ACK #
valid acknowledgement number (not segments!)
head not
PSH: push data now len used
UA P R S F Receive window
(generally not used) # bytes
checksum Urg data pointer
rcvr willing
RST, SYN, FIN: to accept
Options (variable length)
connection estab
(setup, teardown
commands)
application
Internet data
checksum (variable length)
(as in UDP)

Transport Layer 3-57

TCP seq. #’s and ACKs

Seq. #’s:
Host A Host B
 byte stream
“number” of first User
types
byte in segment’s ‘C’
data host ACKs
receipt of
ACKs: ‘C’, echoes
 seq # of next byte back ‘C’
expected from
other side host ACKs
 cumulative ACK receipt
of echoed
Q: how receiver handles ‘C’
out-of-order segments
 A: TCP spec doesn’t
time
say, - up to
simple telnet scenario
implementer
Transport Layer 3-58

29
TCP Round Trip Time and Timeout
Q: how to set TCP Q: how to estimate RTT?
timeout value?  SampleRTT: measured time from
 longer than RTT segment transmission until ACK
 but RTT varies
receipt
 ignore retransmissions
 too short: premature
timeout  SampleRTT will vary, want
 unnecessary
estimated RTT “smoother”
retransmissions  average several recent

 too long: slow reaction

measurements, not just
to segment loss current SampleRTT

Transport Layer 3-59

TCP Round Trip Time and Timeout

EstimatedRTT = (1- )*EstimatedRTT + *SampleRTT

 Exponential weighted moving average

 influence of past sample decreases exponentially fast
 typical value:  = 0.125

Transport Layer 3-60

30
Example RTT estimation:
RTT: gaia.cs.umass.edu to fantasia.eurecom.fr

350

300

250
RTT (milliseconds)

200

150

100
1 8 15 22 29 36 43 50 57 64 71 78 85 92 99 106
time (seconnds)

SampleRTT Estimated RTT

Transport Layer 3-61

TCP Round Trip Time and Timeout

Setting the timeout
 EstimtedRTT plus “safety margin”
 large variation in EstimatedRTT -> larger safety margin
 first estimate of how much SampleRTT deviates from
EstimatedRTT:

DevRTT = (1-)*DevRTT +
*|SampleRTT-EstimatedRTT|

(typically,  = 0.25)

Then set timeout interval:

TimeoutInterval = EstimatedRTT + 4*DevRTT

Transport Layer 3-62

31
Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-63

TCP reliable data transfer

 TCP creates rdt  retransmissions are
service on top of IP’s triggered by:
unreliable service  timeout events
 pipelined segments  duplicate ACKs
 cumulative ACKs  initially consider
 TCP uses single
simplified TCP sender:
ignore duplicate ACKs
retransmission timer 
 ignore flow control,
congestion control

Transport Layer 3-64

32
TCP sender events:
data rcvd from app: timeout:
 create segment with  retransmit segment
seq # that caused timeout
 seq # is byte-stream  restart timer
number of first data ACK rcvd:
byte in segment  if acknowledges
 start timer if not previously unACKed
already running (think segments
of timer as for oldest  update what is known to
unACKed segment) be ACKed
 expiration interval:  start timer if there are
TimeOutInterval outstanding segments

Transport Layer 3-65

NextSeqNum = InitialSeqNum
SendBase = InitialSeqNum

loop (forever) { TCP

sender
switch(event)

event: data received from application above

create TCP segment with sequence number NextSeqNum (simplified)
if (timer currently not running)
start timer
pass segment to IP Comment:
NextSeqNum = NextSeqNum + length(data)
• SendBase-1: last
event: timer timeout cumulatively
retransmit not-yet-acknowledged segment with ACKed byte
smallest sequence number Example:
start timer • SendBase-1 = 71;
y= 73, so the rcvr
event: ACK received, with ACK field value of y wants 73+ ;
if (y > SendBase) { y > SendBase, so
SendBase = y
that new data is
if (there are currently not-yet-acknowledged segments)
start timer ACKed
}

} /* end of loop forever */

Transport Layer 3-66

33
 TCP: retransmission scenarios
Host A Host B Host A Host B

Seq=92 timeout
timeout

X
loss

Sendbase
= 100

Seq=92 timeout
SendBase
= 120

SendBase
= 100 SendBase
= 120 premature timeout
time time
lost ACK scenario
Transport Layer 3-67

TCP retransmission scenarios (more)

Host A Host B
timeout

X
loss

SendBase
= 120

time
Cumulative ACK scenario

Transport Layer 3-68

34
TCP ACK generation [RFC 1122, RFC 2581]

Event at Receiver TCP Receiver action

Arrival of in-order segment with Delayed ACK. Wait up to 500ms
expected seq #. All data up to for next segment. If no next segment,
expected seq # already ACKed send ACK

Arrival of in-order segment with Immediately send single cumulative

expected seq #. One other ACK, ACKing both in-order segments
segment has ACK pending

Arrival of out-of-order segment Immediately send duplicate ACK,

higher-than-expect seq. # . indicating seq. # of next expected byte
Gap detected

Arrival of segment that Immediate send ACK, provided that

partially or completely fills gap segment starts at lower end of gap

Transport Layer 3-69

Fast Retransmit
 time-out period often  If sender receives 3
relatively long: ACKs for same data, it
 long delay before assumes that segment
resending lost packet after ACKed data was
 detect lost segments lost:
via duplicate ACKs.  fast retransmit: resend
 sender often sends segment before timer
many segments back-to- expires
back
 if segment is lost, there
will likely be many
duplicate ACKs for that
segment

Transport Layer 3-70

35
 Host A Host B

seq # x1
seq # x2
seq # x3
ACK x1
seq # x4 X
seq # x5
ACK x1
ACK x1
ACK x1
triple
duplicate
ACKs
timeout

time

Transport Layer 3-71

Fast retransmit algorithm:

event: ACK received, with ACK field value of y

if (y > SendBase) {
SendBase = y
if (there are currently not-yet-acknowledged segments)
start timer
}
else {
increment count of dup ACKs received for y
if (count of dup ACKs received for y = 3) {
resend segment with sequence number y
}

a duplicate ACK for fast retransmit

already ACKed segment

Transport Layer 3-72

36
 Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-73

TCP Flow Control

flow control
sender won’t overflow
 receive side of TCP receiver’s buffer by
connection has a transmitting too much,
receive buffer: too fast

IP
(currently)
TCP data application
 speed-matching
unused buffer
datagrams space
(in buffer) process service: matching
send rate to receiving
application’s drain rate
 app process may be
slow at reading from
buffer
Transport Layer 3-74

37
 TCP Flow control: how it works
IP
(currently)
TCP data application
 receiver: advertises
unused buffer
datagrams space
(in buffer) process unused buffer space by
including rwnd value in
rwnd segment header
RcvBuffer
 sender: limits # of
(suppose TCP receiver unACKed bytes to rwnd
discards out-of-order  guarantees receiver’s
segments) buffer doesn’t overflow
 unused buffer space:
= rwnd
= RcvBuffer-[LastByteRcvd -
LastByteRead]

Transport Layer 3-75

Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-76

38
TCP Connection Management
Recall: TCP sender, receiver
establish “connection”
before exchanging data
segments
 initialize TCP variables:
 seq. #s
 buffers, flow control
info (e.g. RcvWindow)
 client: connection initiator
Socket clientSocket = new
Socket("hostname","port
number");
 server: contacted by client
Socket connectionSocket =
welcomeSocket.accept();
TCP Connection Management (cont.)
Closing a connection:
client closes socket:
clientSocket.close();
Step 1: client end system
sends TCP FIN control
segment to server
Step 2: server receives
FIN, replies with ACK.
Closes connection, sends
FIN.
Three way handshake:
Step 1: client host sends TCP
SYN segment to server
 specifies initial seq #
 no data
Step 2: server host receives
SYN, replies with SYNACK
segment
server allocates buffers

 specifies server initial
seq. #
Step 3: client receives SYNACK,
replies with ACK segment,
which may contain data
Transport Layer 3-77
client server
close
close
timed wait
closed
Transport Layer 3-78
39
TCP Connection Management (cont.)

Step 3: client receives FIN, client server

replies with ACK. closing
 Enters “timed wait” -
will respond with ACK
to received FINs
closing
Step 4: server, receives
ACK. Connection closed.

timed wait
Note: with small
closed
modification, can handle
simultaneous FINs.
closed

Transport Layer 3-79

TCP Connection Management (cont)

TCP server
lifecycle

TCP client
lifecycle

Transport Layer 3-80

40
Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer  3.5 Connection-oriented
services transport: TCP
 3.2 Multiplexing and  segment structure
demultiplexing  reliable data transfer
flow control
 3.3 Connectionless

connection management
transport: UDP 

 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-81

Principles of Congestion Control

Congestion:
 informally: “too many sources sending too much
data too fast for network to handle”
 different from flow control!
 manifestations:
 lost packets (buffer overflow at routers)
 long delays (queueing in router buffers)
 a top-10 problem!

Transport Layer 3-82

41
 Causes/costs of congestion: scenario 1
Host A out
 two senders, two
in : original data

receivers
 one router,
Host B unlimited shared
output link buffers

infinite buffers
 no retransmission

 large delays
when congested
 maximum
achievable
throughput
Transport Layer 3-83

Causes/costs of congestion: scenario 2

 one router, finite buffers

 sender retransmission of lost packet

Host A in : original out

data
'in : original data, plus
retransmitted data

Host B finite shared output

link buffers

Transport Layer 3-84

42
 Causes/costs of congestion: scenario 2
 always: =   (goodput)
in out
 “perfect” retransmission only when loss:  > out
in
 retransmission of delayed (not lost) packet makes  larger
in
(than perfect case) for same out
R/2 R/2 R/2

R/3
out

out

out
R/4

R/2 R/2 R/2

in in in

a. b. c.
“costs” of congestion:
 more work (retrans) for given “goodput”
 unneeded retransmissions: link carries multiple copies of pkt
Transport Layer 3-85

Causes/costs of congestion: scenario 3

 four senders
Q: what happens as 
 multihop paths in
and  increase ?
 timeout/retransmit in
Host A out
in : original data
'in : original data, plus
retransmitted data

finite shared output

link buffers

Host B

Transport Layer 3-86

43
Causes/costs of congestion: scenario 3
H 
o
o
s
u
t
A t

H
o
s
t
B

another “cost” of congestion:

 when packet dropped, any “upstream transmission
capacity used for that packet was wasted!

Transport Layer 3-87

Approaches towards congestion control

two broad approaches towards congestion control:

end-end congestion network-assisted

control: congestion control:
 no explicit feedback from  routers provide feedback
network to end systems
 congestion inferred from  single bit indicating
end-system observed loss, congestion (SNA,
delay DECbit, TCP/IP ECN,
 approach taken by TCP ATM)
 explicit rate sender
should send at

Transport Layer 3-88

44
Case study: ATM ABR congestion control

ABR: available bit rate: RM (resource management)

 “elastic service”
 if sender’s path
“underloaded”:
 sender should use
available bandwidth
 if sender’s path
congested:
 sender throttled to
minimum guaranteed
rate
cells:
 sent by sender, interspersed
with data cells
 bits in RM cell set by switches
(“network-assisted”)
 NI bit: no increase in rate
(mild congestion)
 CI bit: congestion
indication
 RM cells returned to sender by
receiver, with bits intact

Transport Layer 3-89

Case study: ATM ABR congestion control

 two-byte ER (explicit rate) field in RM cell

 congested switch may lower ER value in cell
 sender’ send rate thus maximum supportable rate on path

 EFCI bit in data cells: set to 1 in congested switch

 if data cell preceding RM cell has EFCI set, sender sets CI
bit in returned RM cell

Transport Layer 3-90

45
 Chapter 3 outline
 3.1 Transport-layer
services
 3.2 Multiplexing and
demultiplexing
 3.3 Connectionless
transport: UDP
 3.5 Connection-oriented
transport: TCP
 segment structure
 reliable data transfer
flow control

connection management


 3.6 Principles of
 3.4 Principles of
reliable data transfer congestion control
 3.7 TCP congestion
control

Transport Layer 3-91

TCP congestion control:

 goal: TCP sender should transmit as fast as possible,
but without congesting network
 Q: how to find rate just below congestion level
 decentralized: each TCP sender sets its own rate,
based on implicit feedback:
 ACK: segment received (a good thing!), network not
congested, so increase sending rate
 lost segment: assume loss due to congested
network, so decrease sending rate

Transport Layer 3-92

46
TCP congestion control: bandwidth probing
 “probing for bandwidth”: increase transmission rate
on receipt of ACK, until eventually loss occurs, then
decrease transmission rate
 continue to increase on ACK, decrease on loss (since available
bandwidth is changing, depending on other connections in
network)
ACKs being received,
X loss, so decrease rate
so increase rate
X
X
X
sending rate

TCP’s
X “sawtooth”
behavior

time

 Q: how fast to increase/decrease?

 details to follow Transport Layer 3-93

TCP Congestion Control: details

 sender limits rate by limiting number

of unACKed bytes “in pipeline”:
LastByteSent-LastByteAcked  cwnd
 cwnd: differs from rwnd (how, why?)
 sender limited by min(cwnd,rwnd)
cwnd
 roughly, bytes

cwnd
rate = bytes/sec
RTT
RTT
 cwnd is dynamic, function of
perceived network congestion ACK(s)

Transport Layer 3-94

47
TCP Congestion Control: more details

segment loss event: ACK received: increase

reducing cwnd
 timeout: no response
from receiver
 cut cwnd to 1
 3 duplicate ACKs: at
least some segments
getting through (recall
fast retransmit)
 cut cwnd in half, less
aggressively than on
timeout
cwnd
 slowstart phase:
 increase exponentially
fast (despite name) at
connection start, or
following timeout
 congestion avoidance:
 increase linearly

Transport Layer 3-95

TCP Slow Start

 when connection begins, cwnd =
1 MSS Host A Host B
 example: MSS = 500 bytes
& RTT = 200 msec
RTT

 initial rate = 20 kbps

 available bandwidth may be >>
MSS/RTT
 desirable to quickly ramp up
to respectable rate
 increase rate exponentially
until first loss event or when
threshold reached
 double cwnd every RTT
time
 done by incrementing cwnd
by 1 for every ACK received
Transport Layer 3-96

48
Transitioning into/out of slowstart
ssthresh: cwnd threshold maintained by TCP
 on loss event: set ssthresh to cwnd/2
 remember (half of) TCP rate when congestion last occurred
 when cwnd >= ssthresh: transition from slowstart to congestion
avoidance phase

duplicate ACK
dupACKcount++ new ACK
cwnd = cwnd+MSS
dupACKcount = 0
 transmit new segment(s),as allowed
cwnd = 1 MSS
ssthresh = 64 KB cwnd > ssthresh
dupACKcount = 0 slow  congestion
start timeout avoidance
ssthresh = cwnd/2
cwnd = 1 MSS
timeout dupACKcount = 0
retransmit missing segment
ssthresh = cwnd/2
cwnd = 1 MSS
dupACKcount = 0
retransmit missing segment

Transport Layer 3-97

TCP: congestion avoidance

 when cwnd > ssthresh AIMD
grow cwnd linearly
 ACKs: increase cwnd
 increase cwnd by 1
by 1 MSS per RTT:
MSS per RTT additive increase
 approach possible  loss: cut cwnd in half
congestion slower (non-timeout-detected
than in slowstart loss ): multiplicative
 implementation: cwnd decrease
= cwnd + MSS/cwnd
for each ACK received AIMD: Additive Increase
Multiplicative Decrease

Transport Layer 3-98

49
TCP congestion control FSM: overview

slow cwnd > ssthresh

congestion
start avoidance
loss:
timeout
loss:
timeout

loss: new ACK loss:

timeout 3dupACK
fast
loss: recovery
3dupACK

Transport Layer 3-99

TCP congestion control FSM: details

new ACK
duplicate ACK
dupACKcount++ new ACK
.
cwnd = cwnd + MSS (MSS/cwnd)
dupACKcount = 0
cwnd = cwnd+MSS transmit new segment(s),as allowed
dupACKcount = 0
 transmit new segment(s),as allowed
cwnd = 1 MSS
ssthresh = 64 KB cwnd > ssthresh
dupACKcount = 0 slow  congestion
start timeout avoidance
ssthresh = cwnd/2
cwnd = 1 MSS duplicate ACK
timeout dupACKcount = 0
dupACKcount++
retransmit missing segment
ssthresh = cwnd/2
cwnd = 1 MSS
dupACKcount = 0
retransmit missing segment
timeout
ssthresh = cwnd/2
cwnd = 1 New ACK
dupACKcount = 0
cwnd = ssthresh dupACKcount == 3
dupACKcount == 3 retransmit missing segment dupACKcount = 0
ssthresh= cwnd/2 ssthresh= cwnd/2
cwnd = ssthresh + 3 cwnd = ssthresh + 3
retransmit missing segment retransmit missing segment
fast
recovery
duplicate ACK
cwnd = cwnd + MSS
transmit new segment(s), as allowed

Transport Layer 3-100

50
Popular “flavors” of TCP

cwnd window size (in segments)

TCP Reno

ssthresh

ssthresh

TCP Tahoe

Transmission round

Transport Layer 3-101

Summary: TCP Congestion Control

 when cwnd < ssthresh, sender in slow-start

phase, window grows exponentially.
 when cwnd >= ssthresh, sender is in congestion-
avoidance phase, window grows linearly.
 when triple duplicate ACK occurs, ssthresh set
to cwnd/2, cwnd set to ~ ssthresh

 when timeout occurs, ssthresh set to cwnd/2,

cwnd set to 1 MSS.

Transport Layer 3-102

51
TCP throughput
 Q: what’s average throughout of TCP as
function of window size, RTT?
 ignoring slow start
 let W be window size when loss occurs.
 when window is W, throughput is W/RTT
 just after loss, window drops to W/2,
throughput to W/2RTT.
 average throughout: .75 W/RTT

Transport Layer 3-103

TCP Futures: TCP over “long, fat pipes”

 example: 1500 byte segments, 100ms RTT, want 10

Gbps throughput
 requires window size W = 83,333 in-flight
segments
 throughput in terms of loss rate:

1.22  MSS
RTT L
 ➜ L = 2·10-10 Wow
 new versions of TCP for high-speed

Transport Layer 3-104

52
TCP Fairness
fairness goal: if K TCP sessions share same
bottleneck link of bandwidth R, each should have
average rate of R/K

TCP connection 1

bottleneck
TCP
router
connection 2
capacity R

Transport Layer 3-105

Why is TCP fair?

Two competing sessions:
 Additive increase gives slope of 1, as throughout increases
 multiplicative decrease decreases throughput proportionally

R equal bandwidth share

loss: decrease window by factor of 2

congestion avoidance: additive increase
loss: decrease window by factor of 2
congestion avoidance: additive increase

Connection 1 throughput R

Transport Layer 3-106

53
Fairness (more)
Fairness and UDP
 multimedia apps often
do not use TCP
 do not want rate
throttled by congestion
control
 instead use UDP:
 pump audio/video at
constant rate, tolerate
packet loss
Chapter 3: Summary
 principles behind transport
layer services:
 multiplexing,
demultiplexing
 reliable data transfer
 flow control
 congestion control
 instantiation and
implementation in the
Internet
 UDP
 TCP
Fairness and parallel TCP
connections
 nothing prevents app from
opening parallel
connections between 2
hosts.
 web browsers do this
 example: link of rate R
supporting 9 connections;
 new app asks for 1 TCP, gets
rate R/10
 new app asks for 11 TCPs,
gets R/2 !
Transport Layer 3-107
Next:
 leaving the network
“edge” (application,
transport layers)
 into the network
“core”
Transport Layer 3-108
54