InPCM: a network caching technique for improving the performance of TCP in wireless ad-hoc networks

We propose a novel mechanism called In-Network Packet Caching Mechanism (inPCM) to address TCP's poor performance in IEEE 802.11 based multi-hop wireless networks. In particular, we address TCP's inappropriate response to bursty and location dependent errors. The key concept is the use of intermediate nodes to perform packet recovery on behalf of TCP senders, similar to the well-known Snoop TCP but adapted to work over multi-hop wireless networks. We have conducted ns-2 simulation studies over a variety of network conditions and topologies. Our results confirm InPCM's benefits to TCP in terms of delay and throughput. Moreover, it is immediately deployable without modifications to current protocols.