LLG 8-Jun-77 13:01  29364

IEN # 12                                            L. Garlick / SRI-ARC
Supercedes: None                                        R. Rom / SRI-ARC
Replaces: None                                        J. Postel /SRI-ARC
                                                           15 March 1977

Section: 2.4.4.1




               Issues in Reliable Host-to-Host Protocols






                          Lawrence L. Garlick
                              Raphael Rom
                           Jonathan B. Postel


















                             March 15, 1977






                      Augmentation Research Center
                      Stanford Research Institute
                     Menlo Park, California  94025

                             (415) 326-6200

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     Issues in Reliable Host-to-Host Protocols



                                ABSTRACT

       Fully reliable network host-to-host protocols have recently
       gained significant attention, primarily due to more strin-
       gent security requirements of network users.  This paper
       will discuss issues related to one such protocol, which is
       supported by the Transmission Control Program (TCP).  The
       protocol, first introduced in 1974, features end-to-end pos-
       itive acknowledgement, retransmission, internetwork
       addressing capabilities, and ordered delivery.

       The issues of interest in this paper are protocol correct-
       ness and completeness, protocol efficiency, and complexity
       of implementation.  The discussion will suggest alterations
       and extensions to TCP.

       Flow control heuristics using TCP's windowing techniques are
       explored.  Flow control information is augmented to allow
       fair apportionment of bandwidth, better bandwidth utiliza-
       tion through optimistic credits, flow control credits
       matched to the type of traffic, and increased performance
       for high precedence connections.

       An alternative for selecting the startup sequence number of
       a connection is presented.  It is suggested that the
       resynchronization method for sequence number space manage-
       ment should be abandoned because it is overly complicated
       and can actually fail when the data stream is stopped by
       flow control.

       The need for the separation of data and control channels is
       motivated, introducing the notion of a reliable subchannel.

       The findings are presented both to further the understanding
       of reliable protocols and to encourage intelligent
       implementations of TCP.

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               Issues in Reliable Host-to-Host Protocols

                                                                       2

     INTRODUCTION                                                      3

       Due to numerous advances in computer communications, there
       has been a tremendous growth in computer networking.  This
       has led to the need for parallel advances in distributed
       computing protocols.  Typical of these advances are the
       packet switching network protocols developed for the ARPA
       network.  The need for a protocol that supports distributed
       process-to-process communication was realized early by ARPA
       network designers and the ARPA host-to-host protocol (AHHP)
       became the reference point for such process-to-process
       protocols.                                                     3a

       The AHHP has been very successful in providing a basis for
       abundant research in distributed computing and in providing
       a prototype for process-to-process protocols.  As experience
       with networking has grown, new applications, new topologies,
       new network access methods, and new higher level protocols
       have emerged.  The AHHP has not been entirely suited for the
       new requirements that have resulted from this experience.      3b

       End-to-end reliability is an example of a new requirement
       needed by host-to-host protocols.  It has been a concern for
       builders of both secure applications and higher level
       protocols.  There are two important motivations for strin-
       gent reliability requirements.  First, security measures,
       such as encryption, are often applied at the host-to-host
       level or lower.  Second, higher level protocols, such as the
       ARPA TELNET protocol, should not be required to handle
       transmission error checking.  The AHHP does not provide
       host-to-host acknowledgement; it relies upon subnet and
       host-to-subnet protocols to deliver messages reliably.
       While the performance of the AHHP has been almost error
       free, it has been known to lose messages; thus it cannot be
       considered a fully reliable protocol.                          3c

       Other deficiencies in AHHP include addressing constraints,
       weak error recovery, simplex connections, and large overhead
       for passing flow control information.                          3d

       TCP, which, throughout this paper will be an abbreviation
       for both the Transmission Control Program and the protocol
       it supports, corrects the deficiencies of AHHP.  TCP was




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       initially designed to be a reliable internetwork host-to-
       host protocol [Reference 1], as well as a solution to many
       of the problems of the AHHP.  When the special internetwork
       addressing considerations are ignored (as they shall be in
       this paper), it represents a significant advancement in
       host-to-host protocols.  Among its reliability features are
       positive acknowledgement, retransmission, and sequencing of
       data and controls.  It guarantees the error free delivery of
       each message for which it claims successful delivery.  Other
       improvements include duplex connections and the ability to
       use a network address (socket) in several connections.         3e

       The paper is organized around three issues--a discussion of
       flow control techniques for TCP, alternate strategies for
       the management of connection sequence number space, and the
       need for a control subchannel for each TCP connection.  To
       provide further context for the discussion, a brief summary
       of interesting TCP features is presented.  It is assumed
       that the reader is somewhat familiar with the AHHP and has
       been exposed to the early literature on TCP-like protocols
       [References 1, 2, 6].  A glossary of abbreviations and
       terms, and appendices that magnify a few of the more in-
       volved issues can be found at the end of the paper.            3f



     TCP:  A RELIABLE TRANSMISSION PROTOCOL                            4

       Network Characteristics                                        4a

         TCP does not depend on the transmission medium for its re-
         liability, i.e., it is assumed that the subnetwork may be
         unreliable.  The subnet need not ensure the orderly or
         errorless delivery of subnet packets, or account for lost
         packets.  TCP functions correctly in the face of large
         packet lifetimes, and the opening and closing of
         connections in quick succession.

       Connections                                                    4b

         Logical connections are established for process-to-process
         (user-to-user) communication.  TCP connections are full-
         duplex channels established between source and destination
         sockets (network-wide process names).  A socket may be a
         party to more than one connection, but only one connection
         can exist between any pair of sockets.





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         TCP provides the means by which a connection between the
         processes is established, controlled during the transfer
         of data, and terminated at the completion of the session.
         Connection management requires the exchange of controls
         between TCP's.  There are controls for connection
         synchronization, out-of-band signalling (interrupt), data
         flushing, resynchronization, and connection closing.  As
         described below, controls accompany data whenever possible
         to avoid the overhead of separate control packets.

       Packaging and Headers                                          4c

         TCP packages user letters (messages) into packets suitable
         for transmission over a subnetwork.  Each letter or par-
         tial letter is prefixed by a TCP header, which includes
         fields for addressing, sequencing, acknowledgements, flow
         control, controls, and error checking.  The header is
         optionally followed by a block of data.  The smallest unit
         of data transfer and the unit of sequencing is the 8-bit
         byte (octet).

       Sequencing                                                     4d

         Sequence numbers are used as acknowledgement identifiers
         and as an ordering mechanism.  They are assigned to each
         octet of data and to those controls that need
         synchronization with the data stream.  Only one sequence
         number is sent with each TCP header; it represents the se-
         quence number assigned to the first control or data in the
         packet.  This means that data and control sequence numbers
         come from the same name space.  The packet length is used
         to determine the highest sequence number consumed by the
         packet.

         Reuse of sequence numbers is allowed only for duplicate
         retransmissions.  The sequence number space is managed by
         a cooperatively by the sender and the receiver, as will be
         discussed later.

       Acknowledgement and Retransmission                             4e

         A TCP acknowledgement represents the successful delivery
         of some number of octets to the receiving process's buffer
         or to the remote TCP (controls).  It is sent to the
         transmitting TCP in the acknowledgement field of a subse-
         quent TCP header.  The sequence number placed in this
         field is the highest sequence number acknowledged by the




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         receiver and implies acknowledgement of all previous
         octets.  If packets arrive out of order, an
         acknowledgement cannot be sent for octets with sequence
         numbers higher than the missing octets, since that would
         implicitly acknowledge the missing data.

         Packets can be retransmitted at will until they are
         acknowledged; however, bandwidth may be underutilized if
         improper retransmission policies are followed.  Duplicates
         naturally arise from retransmissions that occur prior to
         the receipt of an acknowledgment and are detected and han-
         dled as described below.

       Synchronization and Resynchronization                          4f

         TCP is expected to run in a network with relatively long
         packet lifetimes and relatively short times between the
         closing and opening of a connection.  Therefore, several
         problems must be solved concerning detection of old dupli-
         cate packets, that is, packets that have sequence numbers
         assigned by old instances of a connection between the same
         sockets.  These problems are how to select startup se-
         quence numbers, how to reliably exchange new sequence num-
         bers, and how to determine when resynchronization of se-
         quence numbers is necessary.

         The exchange of sequence numbers at synchronization or
         resynchronization time is accomplished using a "three-way
         handshake" method [References 2, 4, 5].  This method pro-
         vides positive acknowledgement of the exchanged sequence
         numbers and is sufficient to handle the problem of
         simultaneous connection establishment attempts.

         A solution to the other two problems has been an Initial
         Sequence Number curve [References 4, 5, 6], that is used
         by the sender as a mechanism for 1) selecting the first
         sequence number for a connection and 2) detecting when the
         consumption of sequence numbers is not progressing in a
         manner that will guarantee that old duplicates can be
         reliably identified by the receiving TCP.

         The management of the sequence number space will be dis-
         cussed in section 4.








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       Flow Control                                                   4g

         Flow control is exerted by the receiver by issuing
         credits, which represent the receiving process's
         willingness to buffer data.  Credits are passed in the TCP
         header in the window size field.  The window size is added
         to the last acknowledged sequence number (the window's
         left edge) to give the highest allowable sequence number
         that may be sent (the window's right edge).  Flow control
         is discussed in further detail in section 3.

       Packet Acceptance Checking                                     4h

         The receiving TCP is responsible for the detection of
         packets with improper sequence numbers.  These may have
         sequence numbers that are either old duplicates (from pre-
         vious connections) or illegal because they are not within
         an acceptable flow control range.

         To determine the action to be taken for a newly received
         packet, acceptability ranges are defined.  The following
         three ranges are mutually exclusive and collectively
         exhaustive of the sequence number space (see Figure 1):

           Acknowledge-deliver range (ADR)

             The packet has arrived in-order and does not exceed
             the receiving process's buffer space.  Data will be
             placed in the buffer and an acknowledgement will be
             generated to indicate successful delivery.

           Acknowledge-only range (AOR)

             A duplicate packet has arrived, as a result of
             retransmission.  It will be acknowledged, but not de-
             livered, since delivery has already occurred.

           Discard range (DR)

             An illegal packet has arrived.  It may be an old du-
             plicate or a packet that cannot be delivered due to
             flow control.

         Appendix A provides more details of the packet acceptance
         policy.






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     FLOW CONTROL TECHNIQUES                                           5

       Flow control is basically a mechanism to prevent the re-
       ceiving process's buffers from overflowing.  A good flow
       control scheme must handle a whole spectrum of problems that
       result from performing this basic duty.  This section first
       discusses general flow control goals and methods, and then
       specific techniques for use with TCP that could significa-
       ntly improve protocol performance.  Where suggestions occur,
       they represent an enhancement to the flow control scheme
       used in the initial versions of TCP.                           5a

       The goals of an ambitious flow control scheme include the
       following:                                                     5b

         Receiver's Allocation

           Any flow control strategy should consider the buffer
           space offered by a receiving user, since this represents
           a depository for incoming messages and relieves the TCP
           of resource allocation problems.

         Congestion Prevention

           The flow control strategy should prevent queueing of
           messages in the protocol module (TCP), so that TCP re-
           sources can be used to handle those messages that have a
           high probability of being delivered immediately.
           Congestion in the subnet can be caused by a
           retransmission protocol like TCP, since each
           unacknowledged packet is retransmitted.  The flow con-
           trol scheme should make it easy to slow or stop
           retransmission from the sender.

         Deadlock Prevention

           When congestion does occur, resources must be available
           to handle traffic-clearing messages.  Controls and flow
           control information must be delivered and interpreted
           even when data is queued.

         Fair Apportionment Of Bandwidth

           In a virtual connection environment, it is important to
           be able to fairly allocate the available bandwidth to




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           users, based on a variety of criteria.  One criterion
           may be precedence of the user or the connection.  Anoth-
           er may be the mode of traffic, e.g., interactive traffic
           may get preference over bulk traffic.

         Bandwidth Utilization For Various Modes Of Transmission

           A network will usually serve several types of user
           communities and thus should be able to adapt the flow
           control strategy to the needs of the user.  For example,
           transmission patterns for interactive users and bulk
           transfer users are quite different.  Those differences
           should be reflected in the flow control strategies.

         Interplay With Subnet Flow Control

           Often the interfaces between modules representing levels
           of protocol can cause flow control problems [Reference
           8].  For instance, the subnet flow control of the
           ARPANET is adversely affected whenever a host does not
           readily accept incoming data from the packet switch
           (IMP).  TCP is especially flexible in this regard, be-
           cause it can absorb congested traffic from the subnet
           and discard it if necessary.

       Exchanging Flow Control Information                            5c

         A windowing scheme to convey flow control information has
         been used for many different types of protocols.  It is an
         efficient technique that is useful whenever positive
         acknowledgement and retransmission are used for reliable
         transmission.  Flow control information is passed in the
         header of a packet as a window size.  It is used in con-
         junction with the acknowledgement sequence number (the
         window's left edge) to determine the highest sequence num-
         ber that can be transmitted with some assurance that it
         will be acknowledged without retransmission.  The
         acknowledge sequence number plus the window size gives the
         right edge of the flow control window.

         A nonzero window size gives permission to send a message
         of a certain length.  It is an "oversend" to send messages
         with sequence numbers that exceed the window right edge.
         In TCP, oversends will occur occasionally, since the flow
         control information is always slightly out of date and it
         is possible to withdraw flow control credits.  Occassional
         oversends are not a problem, because the receiver can al-




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         ways discard incoming data without sending
         acknowledgements.

       Determining the Window Size                                    5d

         The TCP acknowledgement and retransmission scheme allows
         flexibility in determining the correct flow control window
         size.  The window size should indicate the willingness of
         the receiving process to provide buffer space.  The window
         size could represent exactly the available buffer space
         that the user has offered for letter receiving (the
         conservative strategy), or it could reflect some expected
         buffer space, based on previous allocations (the
         optimistic strategy).

         Conservative Guaranteed Allocation

           The conservative approach to window size setting gives
           the receiving process almost full control over the flow
           control mechanism.  By assuring the sender that there
           will be space for a particular number of octets, the
           policy reduces discards thus reducing the number of
           retransmissions.  (Some messages may still be discarded
           if they arrive out of order and sufficient reassembly
           space is not available.)

           There are some disadvantages to the conservative
           strategy of window size setting.  Flow control informa-
           tion is always slightly out of date when it is finally
           received.  The receiving process could have drastically
           increased or decreased its allocation, making the infor-
           mation useless.  Unless a process provides for double
           buffering, the window very likely will go from a fixed
           size (whatever the users buffer is) to zero, each time a
           message is passed on to the receiving process.  Depend-
           ing on the scheduling algorithm in the host, this could
           result in windows of size zero, totally inhibiting mes-
           sage flow.  Before messages can flow again, a packet
           with flow control information must arrive at the source.
           Thus, a round trip delay is experienced between messages
           and there is an increase of dataless packets in the net-
           work.

           Another related problem is that large single buffers may
           be used to receive small letters.  If a window of say
           size k is advertised and a packet of size << k arrives
           that includes the end of a letter, then the destination




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           buffer is returned to the receiving process.  The previ-
           ous flow control credit, which was large, is withdrawn
           and the window becomes zero.  In the interim, the sender
           may have sent several small letters, thinking the
           receiver has the buffers to accept them.  The receiving
           TCP, knowing that the receiving process has no available
           buffer space, will advertise a zero window.  By the time
           the window information arrives at the sending TCP, it
           likely will be an inaccurate report and cause further
           delays.

         Optimistic Credits

           The alternative to the conservative approach is to send
           flow control information that is a good estimate of the
           expected receiver's available space [References 3,7].
           Thus, the window size should be a function of previous
           window sizes as well as the current available space.
           The window size should be an average, weighted very
           heavily toward the current time, so that a process that
           is truly rejecting data will soon reflect a very small
           window.

           This method could even be mixed with heuristics to force
           the window to zero after a fixed period without re-
           ceiving.

           Optimistic allocation can do much to help solve the
           problem of drastic window size changes experienced with
           the conservative scheme.  In granting permission to
           transmit messages before the user has allocated buffer
           space, it fills the pipe and allows a smoother flow.  It
           is still reliable, because any message can be discarded
           in the receiver since it will be retransmitted later.

           The disadvantages of the method are its instability when
           faced with very irregular receiving patterns.  A poorly
           behaving receiver can still sabotage this policy, but
           not as easily as with conservative technique.  As will
           be shown below, an optimistic strategy may be quite
           dynamic with respect to recent receiving patterns,
           connection precedence, and the fair sharing of the
           available bandwidth.

           It may be possible to determine the semantics associated
           with the window size by exchanging transmission mode or
           topological information.  When a connection is opened,




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           the transmission mode (e.g., interactive, bulk) and the
           topology (e.g., satellite link) could be exchanged.
           This would be used to determine the weighting of previ-
           ous window sizes in calculating the current window.

           To demonstrate the idea of an optimistic flow control
           policy, a method for setting the receive window size is
           given in Appendix B.

       Zero Flow Control Windows                                      5e

         It may be necessary to stop the flow on a TCP connection,
         i.e., stop all new transmissions and unnecessary
         retransmissions.  This is required when there are no user
         receive buffers into which data can be placed.  A zero re-
         ceive window indicates an unwillingless to receive data.
         This reluctance is conveyed to the remote TCP by sending a
         packet with zero in the window size field.

         When interpreting packets, each TCP must read window sizes
         on all packets, even those that acknowledge old
         duplicates.  This is necessary for setting the window to
         zero when there is no data to carry the flow control in-
         formation.

         TCP must perform special functions with regard to sending
         packets into a zero window.  If no data is being sent on
         the connection, a zero window is of no concern to the
         sending TCP.  If there is data to be sent, it must be
         queued.  If necessary, new data from the sending process
         must be rejected.  The creation of new packets must be
         suspended entirely, and retransmission must be suspended,
         except for flushing controls, synchronizing controls, and
         the window opening control mentioned below.

         Opening a window of size zero also presents some special
         problems [Reference 6].  Since a window size can accompany
         each packet, it seems that the normal data packet and
         acknowledgement transmissions should be sufficient to vary
         the size of the windows.  However, when the remote TCP is
         showing a zero receive window, it is difficult to send a
         window change reliably.  A data packet cannot be sent be-
         cause the closed window indicates that only controls
         should be retransmitted; moreover, there may be no data to
         send.  If ACKs are used and they arrive out of order, it
         may be impossible to tell if the window is opening or
         closing.




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         The problem of opening a window of size zero is solved by
         using a pair of controls, one sent by the local TCP that
         is making its window size nonzero (WOPEN) and one that is
         sent by the foreign TCP to acknowledge the opening (WACK).
         These are special controls that must be handled immediate-
         ly, without regard for flow control restrictions.  If con-
         trols can be blocked by data, as in the present TCP, then
         the WOPEN must be tagged with, but must not consume a se-
         quence number.



     SEQUENCE NUMBER SPACE MANAGEMENT                                  6

       The second area of the current TCP protocol that needs at-
       tention is that of the reliable handling of the sequence
       number space.  In a packet-switching network with
       alternative routing schemes, a packet can have a relatively
       long lifetime, especially if the topology of the network in-
       cludes satellite links.  Due to misrouting, a packet can ar-
       rive at its destination minutes or even hours late, depend-
       ing on the topology.  A reliable protocol must be able to
       determine if such a packet is deliverable, acknowledgeable,
       or if it must be discarded without acknowledgement.  If dur-
       ing the packet's transit time the connection is closed or
       broken due to a crash with loss of memory, then the packet
       is no longer valid.  If the connection is reestablished,
       using the same source and destination addresses, then the
       arrival of the old packet can cause confusion in the re-
       ceiving TCP.  A reliable mechanism must exist to guarantee
       that the receiving TCP can distinguish packets of the cur-
       rent connection from packets of an old connection.             6a

       Resynchronization, suggested by Tomlinson [Reference 4,5],
       is one such mechanism.  Resynchronization is used in this
       paper to denote the mechanism itself, rather than the stage
       of the mechanism when the actual resetting of the sequence
       numbers is done.  The scheme is based on selecting initial
       sequence numbers (ISN's) from a curve in the sequence-
       number/time plane.  When a new connection is opened, its
       first sequence number is taken from the ISN curve.  If the
       consumption of sequence numbers is satisfactory, i.e., simi-
       lar in slope to the ISN curve, resynchronization of sequence
       numbers need not occur.  However, if the rate of consumption
       is too slow, resynchronization may be required to avoid
       colliding with the ISN curve.  The ISN curve has a parallel
       boundary (defining a "forbidden zone") that indicates that




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       no new sequence numbers may be assigned and that
       resynchronization must take place immediately.  If this is
       not done and if a crash occurs, sequence numbers assigned in
       the forbidden zone could conflict with the ISN chosen for
       the new connection.  See Appendix C, and References 4, 5, 6
       for further details of the resynchronization mechanism.        6b

       A few of the problems related to implementing
       resynchronization are discussed below.                         6c

         Understanding and Documenting the Problem

           Even though the resynchronization method is a workable
           one, it is not at all straightforward.  It takes
           numerous pages and illustrations just to document the
           concept [Reference 4,5,6].  As has been pointed out in
           the past by weathered ARPANET protocol implementers, a
           protocol must be reasonably easy to understand and easy
           to document.  After all, if the network is
           heterogeneous, it will be implemented on numerous kinds
           of hardware by system programmers with various degrees
           of skill.

         Testing for the Need to Resynchronize

           The protocol requires that if a connection is broken due
           to a system crash, the sequence number chosen at startup
           must be one that cannot be confused with any sequence
           number still in the network for the old instance of that
           connection.  To satisfy this requirement, periodic
           runtime checking must be done to determine if the se-
           quence number consumption rate is satisfactory, i.e., if
           it is approaching the forbidden zone.  This check must
           be done at fixed time intervals, not just when sequence
           numbers are being assigned.  The check may result in the
           need to resynchronize even (and especially) if the
           connection is idle.

         Resynchronization and Flow Control

           The need to resynchronize may occur at any time, and the
           resynchronization must proceed in a timely manner if
           normal activity is to continue.  However, since
           resynchronization means changing from the old sequence
           numbers to new sequence numbers and since the
           resynchronization control must be acknowledged (marked
           with an "old" sequence number), all data marked with the




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           "old" numbers must be acknowledged before the
           resynchronization control is acknowledged.  If data is
           not being accepted because the user is not receiving,
           then resynchronization cannot proceed.  If
           resynchronization cannot proceed, then neither new con-
           trols nor new data may be sent.

         The Loss of a Truly Out-Of-Band Signal

           Due to the flow control problem mentioned above, all
           controls can be blocked during a resynchronization pro-
           cess.  This includes the interrupt, which is supposed to
           be an out-of-band signal.  Losing the out-of-band capa-
           bility, even in rare instances, is an unfortunate defi-
           ciency.  Higher-level protocols that rely on an out-of-
           band signal could be severely crippled by the inability
           to interrupt a "runaway" process.  In fact, it is the
           runaway process, by not accepting data, that will soon
           force resynchronization and will not be interruptable.

         Extra Connection States and Controls

           When a state diagram is used to represent a TCP
           connection, 40% of the connection states are a result of
           the resynchronization mechanism [Reference 6].  These
           seven extra states allow for simultaneous
           resynchronization attempts and resynchronization
           attempts during connection closing (with no data loss).

           One extra control is required to support
           resynchronization.  It is believed that more would be
           required for satisfactory solutions to the problems of
           resynchronizing a connection that is blocked by data
           flow control and for support of a true out-of-band sig-
           nal.

         Decentralized Code

           Code to support resynchronization would be scattered
           throughout many modules of the protocol implementation.
           There must be a watchdog for detecting the forbidden
           zone.  There would be heuristics strewn throughout the
           control sending and parsing modules.  Also, to solve the
           flow control and interrupt problems mentioned above,
           special provisions must be made for either flushing data
           or saving old sequence numbers.





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       An Alternative to Resynchronization                            6d

         An alternative to resynchronization is a strategy that
         uniquely names each instance of a connection.  The name
         (or incarnation number) is passed in each packet and is
         used by the receiver to filter out packets from old
         connections.  The incarnation number is generated from
         clock time; thus, like the resynchronization method, no
         crash-proof memory is required.

         Each time a TCP comes up, it determines its incarnation
         number from a clock.  The appropriate clock resolution and
         wraparound period is a factor of the maximum packet
         lifetime for the network or interconnected network.  Let
         us assume that the clock has a resolution of one minute
         and a wraparound period of 256 minutes.  The resulting
         incarnation number is 8 bits long, and is used to assure
         the receiver that any message received with this
         incarnation number is from the active connection and not
         an old one.  The uniqueness of the incarnation number al-
         lows the resetting of the sequence number space to zero at
         initialization of each new path (first connection between
         two users).

         When a connection is closed, a TCP must save the last se-
         quence number used.  It must retain the number for time
         MPL (maximum packet lifetime).  Saving the sequence number
         and the time of a closed connection solves the problem of
         the repeated opening and closing of the same connection
         (source and destination).  It does not solve the problems
         created by TCP or host computer crashes.

         When connection establishment is requested, the list of
         old connections must be searched by (source, destination).
         If a match is found, the sequence number plus one is the
         first sequence number used when the connection is opened.
         If there is no match, then numbering can start at zero.
         Management of the old connection list entails removal of
         outdated items.  This can be handled, for the most part,
         during normal searching.  When list storage becomes
         scarce, a simple garbage collection routine can be
         invoked.

         There are two problems with the method using incarnation
         numbers.  First, there is some concern about the size of
         the old connection list.  It would not be surprising to
         see 1000 connections per hour for an average host.  The




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         fact that TCP allows a socket to be party to many
         connections will lead to fewer source and destination
         pairs; thus, many connections will be reused.  (This is in
         contrast to the ARPA network, where restrictions in socket
         usage result in contact connections being used to spawn
         direct, dynamically named service connections.)  Another
         factor that alleviates concern about the space required
         for the old connection list is the recent progress in
         inexpensive memories.

         The second problem is how to keep the incarnation number
         small enough to be sent in each header and still keep the
         clock cycle (name space) large enough to ensure
         uniqueness.  It is felt that an incarnation number field
         greater than 8 bits is excessive header overhead.  To ac-
         commodate this, the resolution of the clock is
         constrained, which leads to the following restriction ap-
         plied at host startup time.  When a host comes up after a
         crash, it must delay at least MPL / 2**8 before any
         connections are opened, so that a unique TCP incarnation
         number is always chosen.  A startup delay of one minute is
         probably sufficient for the internetting case since it
         implies a maximum packet lifetime (MPL) of 256 minutes.



     THE NEED FOR A CONTROL SUBCHANNEL                                 7

       In earlier versions of TCP, data, controls, and out-of-band
       signals (also a control) are all multiplexed onto one
       logical channel.  This means that one set of sequence num-
       bers is used for their orderly and reliable delivery.          7a

       One advantage of a single logical channel is the savings in
       the TCP header.  Protocol overhead is a serious matter,
       since it is suffered with each message.  Let us assume that
       it is desirable to allow piggybacking of activity from each
       channels.  Since each logical channel requires header fields
       for both a sequence number and an acknowledgement number,
       header sizes increase by twice the sequence number field
       size as each new channel is added.                             7b

       A second advantage to one logical channel is the ability to
       synchronize the control stream with the data stream.
       Synchronization of the control and data streams is useful
       for handling interrupts and connection closing (without data
       loss).  However, synchronization of streams can result in




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       unwanted interdependencies, since the acknowledgement of a
       control may require the acknowledgement of preceding data.     7c

       Two disadvantages of the single sequence number space scheme
       have been discovered recently:  reassembly of data mixed
       with controls is costly when packets arrive out of order,
       and a true out-of-band signal is not being provided.  The
       first problem is an efficiency matter that has plagued early
       implementers [Reference 9].  User buffer space cannot be
       used for the reassembly of out of order packets because
       there is no way to know if the unarrived packets contain
       only data or if controls are intermixed with the data.         7d

       The essence of the second problem is that the
       acknowledgement scheme requires that acknowledgement of a
       sequence number is implicit acknowledgement of all preceding
       sequence numbers.  Since interrupts must be acknowledged for
       reliability, the transmission of an interrupt can be blocked
       by data flow control in the receiver.  This was noticed by
       Cerf initially (Reference 2) and an attempt was made to
       rectify the matter by giving the interrupt extra semantics--
       that it always flushes unacknowledged data.  This solution
       is probably sufficient unless resynchronization methods are
       used for sequence number selection.                            7e

       As mentioned earlier, when the resynchronization method is
       used, there is no clean solution to the problem of achieving
       both synchronization with the data stream and independence
       of data flow control.  This is due to the fact that the
       resynchronizing control can be blocked by data flow control
       but cannot be flushed.                                         7f

       A compromise solution when using resynchronization is to
       separate controls and interrupts from the data channel, mak-
       ing a control subchannel.  The control sequence number is
       the composite of the data channel sequence number (DCSN) and
       the subchannel sequence number (SCSN).  This serves the dual
       purpose of synchronizing the two streams and using the
       resynchronization mechanism of the data channel for all
       subchannels.  A subchannel allows reliable transmission even
       when the data channel is inactive, without flushing data.      7g

       From the SCSN, the number of control fields, and the last
       SCSN received, the receiver can determine if subchannel
       traffic is coming in order and thus, whether it can be
       acknowledged.                                                  7h





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       The field size holding the SCSN determines the wraparound
       point in the SCSN space.  The SCSN space is initialized to
       zero when the DCSN is synchronized.  It IS NOT reset with
       each DCSN change.                                              7i

       There is no flow control information passed for the
       subchannel.  Discarding controls (without acknowledgement)
       is the flow control mechanism.  Since the sequence number
       space is small compared to that needed to prevent wraparound
       in the worst case, the TCP must keep track of the DCSN to
       which the first SCSN was assigned.  If wraparound of the
       SCSN space occurs, in the rare event that many controls are
       sent while the data channel is blocked, then the control
       channel becomes blocked.  This is very unlikely because a
       long series of controls will probably contain a string of
       interrupts, and successfully delivered interrupts will usu-
       ally cause the receiving process to unblock the data chan-
       nel.                                                           7j

       Acceptability Test for Subchannel Traffic                      7k

         The acceptability test of items on the subchannel is a
         composite test of both sequence numbers.  First the DCSN
         is checked to see if it would be acknowledged if it were
         an octet received on the data channel.  Only if it would
         have been discarded will the item on the subchannel be
         discarded.  Having passed the DCSN test, the SCSN is
         checked to see if the item is deliverable and
         acknowledgeable with respect to the SCSN sequence number
         space.  The SCSN test is less involved than the DCSN test
         because there is no flow control range.  To be believable,
         the SCSN must fall in the range of SCSN's sent and SCSN's
         for which acknowledgements have been received.  This is a
         check for everything except the existence of old
         duplicates from old instances of the connection, which is
         made by checking the DCSN.















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       A Scenario Using a Control Subchannel                          7l

         Let us examine a short scenario between TCP A and TCP B.
         The scenario assumes connections have been established and
         transmission has proceeded normally.  Only those header
         fields that relate to data and control channels will be
         indicated.  Note that the control length can be determined
         by the receiver from other fields in the header.  The fol-
         lowing shorthand will be used in the scenario:

           DSN - data sequence number
           DL - length of data in octets
           DACK - acknowledgement for all preceding data octets
           CSN - control sequence number
           CACK - acknowledgement for all preceding controls




































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         #1 from TCP A
       -----------------------------------
       !  DSN ! DL ! DACK ! CSN ! CACK  ! ====>
       !  100 !  2 !  200 !   5 !   25  ! ====>
       -----------------------------------
         sends 2 data octets (100 & 101),
          acks data through 200;
         sends 1 control (5), acks controls
          through 25.

         #2 from TCP A
       -----------------------------------
       !  DSN ! DL ! DACK ! CSN ! CACK  ! ====>
       !  102 !  3 !  200 !   5 !   25  ! ====>
       -----------------------------------
         sends 3 data octets (102-104),
          acks data through 200;
         sends no controls,
          acks controls through 25.

         #3 from TCP A
       -----------------------------------
       !  DSN ! DL ! DACK ! CSN ! CACK  ! ====>
       !  105 !  3 !  201 !   6 !   25  ! ====>
       -----------------------------------
         sends 3 data octets (105-107),
          acks data through 201;
         sends 1 control (6),
          acks controls through 25.

                                  #4 from TCP B
                               ----------------------------------
                         <==== !  DSN ! DL ! DACK ! CSN ! CACK  !
                         <==== !  202 !  1 !  101 !  26 !    6  !
                               ----------------------------------
                              Having received #1, #3, but not #2,
                                sends 1 data octets (202),
                                  acks data through 101;
                                sends 1 control (26),
                                 acks controls through 6.


       The main things to notice from this scenario are that data
       and controls are still piggybacked, as in the current
       version of TCP, and that there is a degree of independence
       between the two channels.  As the scenario shows, TCP B can
       acknowledge controls that have arrived in order even though




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       it has not received data in order.  Moreover, TCP B is able
       to use the latest data sequence number to test the accep-
       tability of the latest control sequence numbers.



     SUMMARY                                                           8

       Several suggestions have been presented here for the im-
       provement of TCP.  The suggestions relate to improved effi-
       ciency, simplification of implementation, and protocol
       functionality.  The motivation for the suggestions is more
       than to improve a specific protocol.  It is also to focus
       attention on a set of issues that are common to all reliable
       host-to-host protocols.                                        8a

       Flow control ideas have been discussed, with attention to
       implementation ideas that satisfy fairly ambitious goals.
       Window management techniques have been suggested that could
       improve efficiency.  A window setting method was presented
       that features optimistic credits that are a function of past
       credits, congestion, and available buffer space.               8b

       An alternative to the resynchronization method of sequence
       number space management has been given.  The suggested meth-
       od is based on passing TCP incarnation numbers and keeping
       an old connection list.  The method is simple to implement,
       requires no nonvolatile memory, and still guarantees reli-
       able detection of illegal packets.                             8c

       Finally, the need for the separation of data and control
       channels was motivated.  The solution, a reliable
       subchannel, is achievable with no separate sequence number
       space maintenance.                                             8d

       It is hoped that each of these suggestions will be imple-
       mented in future versions of TCP.  There are
       interdependencies involved; that is, some of the stated
       problems become less severe when others are solved.  For ex-
       ample, if resynchronization is abandoned, then the argument
       for separate channels is motivated only by the need for the
       efficient reassembly of out of order packets.                  8e

       Of all the suggestions, the most important is that concern-
       ing a new approach to sequence number space management.
       However, if resynchronization methods are retained, then a





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       subchannel for controls is a must.  Otherwise, a truly out-
       of-band signal is lost.                                        8f

       The discussion of flow control indicated areas that should
       gain attention as more experience with TCP is gained.  This
       should be an area for significant measurement, under many
       different transmission modes.












































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     REFERENCES

       [1]     Cerf, V. and R. Kahn, "A Protocol for Packet Network
               Intercommunication," IEEE Transactions on Communica-
               tion, Vol COM-20, No. 5, May 1974.

       [2]     Cerf, V., Y. Dalal, C. Sunshine, "Specification of
               Internet Transmission Control Program," INWG General
               Note #72, December 1974 (Revised).

       [3]     Sunshine, C., "Interprocess Communication Protocols
               for Computer Networks," Digital Systems Laboratory
               Technical Note #105, December 1975.

       [4]     Tomlinson, R., "Selecting Sequence Numbers," INWG
               Protocol Note #2, September 1974.

       [5]     Dalal, Y., "More on Selecting Sequence Numbers,"
               INWG Protocol Note #4, October 1974.

       [6]     Postel, J., L. Garlick, R. Rom, "Transmission Con-
               trol Protocol Specification (AUTODIN II)," SRI-ARC
               Catalog #35938 & #35939, July 1976.

       [7]     Sunshine, C., "Factors In Interprocess Communication
               Protocol Efficiency For Computer Networks," Proc.
               National Computer Conf., 1976, AFIPS Press, pp
               571-576.

       [8]     Herrmann, Jeff, "Flow Control in the ARPA Network,"
               Networks, Vol 1, Number 1, June 1976.

       [9]     Burchfiel, J., W. Plummer, R. Tomlinson, "Proposed
               Revisions to the TCP," INWG Protocol Note #44, Sep-
               tember 1976.














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     GLOSSARY

       AHHP:  ARPANET host-to-host protocol.

       control:  commands passed between TCP's that are used to co-
       ordinate connection management.

       DCSN:  data channel sequence number.

       host:  a computer that is connected to the network and that
       executes programs on behalf of its users.  A host may pro-
       vide services to other computers on the network.

       ISN:  Initial sequence number; the first sequence number
       used when a connection is synchronized or resynchronized.

       MPL:  maximum packet lifetime.

       octet:  eight bits.

       SCSN:  subchannel sequence number; control channel sequence
       number.

       socket:  an entity defining one end of a TCP connection; the
       inter-network-wide name of a process port.

       subnetwork:  the network of computers that provides a com-
       munication medium for network hosts.  The nodes of a
       subnetwork may function as host interface points as well as
       store and forward computers.

       TCP:  Transmisssion Control Program and the protocol it
       implements.

       window:  a dynamic range in the sequence number space used
       in flow control management.















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     APPENDIX A:  PACKET ACCEPTANCE

       This appendix provides details of the TCP packet acceptance
       testing scheme.  It should clarify the possible actions the
       receiving TCP may take when it receives an arbitrary packet.
       Remember, the receiver is responsible for the detection of
       packets with improper sequence numbers from either old
       connections or ill-behaving TCP's.  For notation, let

         ADR = acknowledge and deliver range

         AOR = acknowledge only range

         DR = discard range

         S = size of sequence number space (number per octet)

         x = sequence number to be tested

         FCLE = flow control left window edge

         ADRE = (FCLE+ADR) mod S = Ack-deliver right edge (Discard
                  left edge - 1)

         AOLE = (FCLE-AOR) mod S =  Ack-only left edge (Discard
                  right edge + 1)

         TSE = time since connection establishment (in sec)

         MPL = maximum packet lifetime (in sec)

         TB = TCP bandwidth (in octets/sec)

       For any sequence number, x, and packet text length, l, if

         (AOLE <= x <= ADRE) mod S  and

         (AOLE <= x+l-1 <= ADRE) mod S

       then the packet should be acknowledged.

       If x and l satisfy

         (FCLE <= x <= ADRE) mod S  and

         (FCLE <= x+l-1 <= ADRE) mod S





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       then x can also be delivered to the user; however, ordered
       delivery requires that x = FCLE.

       A packet is not in a range only if all of it lies outside a
       range.  When a packet falls in more than one range, prece-
       dence is ADR, then AOR, then DR.  When a packet falls in the
       AOR then an ACK should be sent, even if a packet has to be
       created.  The ACK will specify the current left window edge.
       This assures acknowledgment of all duplicates.

       ADRE is exactly the maximum sequence number ever
       "advertised" through the flow control window, plus one.
       This allows for controls to be accepted even though
       permission for them may never have been explicitly given.
       Of course, each time a control with a sequence number equal
       to the ADRE is sent, the ADRE must be incremented by one.

       AOR is set so that old duplicates (from previous
       incarnations of the connection) can be detected and dis-
       carded.  Thus

         AOR = Min(TSE, MPL) * TB.





























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     APPENDIX B:  WINDOW SIZE SETTING

       To demonstrate the idea of an optimistic policy for window
       size setting, a method for setting the receive window size
       is given [Reference 6].  The scheme satisfies the flow con-
       trol goals discussed earlier.  Several parameters have been
       vaguely unspecified since they can be determined only after
       considerable testing and measurement of a specific TCP im-
       plementation.

       First, some notation:

         B - Total bandwidth of the TCP, given unlimited user re-
         sources

         N - The number of connections in the TCP

         CONGEST - A congestion factor which reflects available TCP
         resources (CONGEST =< 1)

         WLT - The long term window

         W - The current window

         AVWT - Weighting coefficient for available buffer space

         OLDWT - Weighting coefficient for old window (OLDWT = 1 -
         AVWT)

         Tot - Total user buffer space

         Avail - The unfilled part of Tot

       The long term window might look like:

         WLT = B/N * CONGEST.

       The algorithm used to update the current window is the fol-
       lowing. Upon the processing of a user's receive request
       (buffer offering), the local receive window is set so that:

         W = MINIMUM(WLT, Tot).









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       Each time a packet is sent for this connection, the local
       TCP sets the receive window and the packet header window
       size field so that

         W = (AVWT * Avail/Tot) * WLT + (OLDWT * W)   (for nonzero
         Tot)

         and

         W = OLDWT * W                   (for Tot = 0).

       It is important to note that a user's receive buffer is re-
       turned when an End-of-Letter is received.  Thus, a small
       letter sent to a large buffer can cause the Avail and Tot to
       vary abruptly, even though there may be a smooth flow of
       letters.

       This window size setting scheme meets the goals mentioned in
       section 3 in the following ways:

         WLT is dependent upon the number of the connections,
         thereby administering fairness among connections.  It also
         considers the level of congestion in the receiving TCP,
         assuming some measure of resource availability can be pro-
         vided.

         The window size will never exceed the bandwidth allocated
         to the connection.  The algorithm may sometimes give cre-
         dit to a "well behaving" process by setting his window to
         greater than the actual buffer available. This window will
         be reduced if the process does not supply new receive
         buffers promptly.

         The current window size is dependent upon previous window
         sizes and upon the rate at which the process makes letter
         space available.  If a process fails to make such space
         available, its receive window will be reduced by OLDWT
         every time a packet is sent.  (The TCP may also apply a
         threshold mechanism by which a window is set to zero when
         it is reduced below the threshold.)

         The algorithm can be modified slightly to support high
         throughput for high precedence connections.  Parameter WLT
         cAn be made dependent on some criterion for the high pri-
         ority traffic.  Categories of priority can be used with
         some guaranteed service (part of the bandwidth) given the
         highest priority categories.




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     APPENDIX C:  RESYNCHRONIZATION DETAILS

       In Figure 2, we show the history of sequence numbers used by
       a particular connection.  The lines labeled "ISN" represent
       the maximum permitted rate at which sequence numbers can be
       used, however, this may be different than the maximum
       throughput rate for the TCP.

       Suppose that the TCP supporting the connection fails at "C"
       and must be restarted.  Assume, also, that the sequence num-
       ber selected to restart is drawn from the value of ISN at
       the time event "C" occurred.  The shaded area between "C"
       and "B" represents the maximum expected time that packets
       emitted at "C" can stay in the net.  Clearly, the ISN line
       intersects this shaded area, indicating that, after the
       restart, it is possible that packets emitted at "C" may be-
       come undistinguishable from those potentially emitted along
       the ISN curve.  To correct this flaw, the sequence number
       currently to be used on the connection must be
       resynchronized before running into the forbidden zone to the
       left of the ISN line.

       Testing for the need to resynchronize

         As packets are produced and sequence numbers assigned to
         them, the TCP must check for two possible conditions which
         indicate that resynchronization is needed.  The first is
         that sequence numbers are being used up so fast that they
         advance faster than ISN.  The other is that they advance
         so slowly that ISN "catches up with them."

         The basic method of selecting an initial sequence number
         is to delay for an arbitrary period labelled a "clock
         tick" or STEP and then select the new ISN.

         In Figure 2, three sequence number histories are traced,
         ending in points "A", "B", and "C".  In the trace labelled
         "A," sequence numbers are used at such a rate that point
         "A" lies beyond ISN plus one STEP.  If the connection were
         to fail and be restarted at "A," the new ISN would be just
         below point "A" and would introduce potential unwanted
         duplicates.

         This situation can be detected before transmission of the
         packet.  Let L be the length of the data in octets.  Let
         SEQ represent the proposed sequence number of the packet,
         and SEQ+L-1 be the sequence number implicitly associated




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         with the last octet of packet data.  Also, let SMPL be the
         sequence numbers consumed at maximum TCP throughput during
         a maximum packet lifetime.  If ISN+STEP (at the moment
         that SEQ is to be assigned) lies in the range [SEQ,
         SEQ+L-1], then the type "A" ISN failure is about to occur.
         The solution is to send only as much text as is allowed
         (which does not result in the failure) and WAIT for the
         clock to tick again.

         The situation in curve "B" is quite different.  In this
         case, the connection is using numbers so slowly that the
         forbidden zone preceding the ISN curve has advanced and
         run into the connection sequence number curve.  There are
         two solutions.  One is to wait for the packet lifetime
         plus one clock step to expire (in which case the sequence
         history will pop out of the forbidden zone again).  The
         other is to actively resynchronize the connection.  The
         test for the type "B" situation is whether sequence number
         SEQ lies in the range [ISN, ISN+SMPL+STEP].

         Note that all tests for inclusion must be modulo S, the
         size of the sequence number space, to account for the wrap
         around of sequence numbers.

         Curve "C" in Figure 2 shows a sequence number trace which
         tends, on the average, to lie within legal values at all
         times.
























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     As presented at the Second Berkeley Workshop on Distributed
     Data Management and Computer Networks, May 1977, at Berkeley,
     California.####;
















































     Garlick, Rom, & Postel                                       page 0

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