Modeling Network Coding-Enabled Protocols on Bursty Channels

Use of millimeter waves (mmWave) and other high frequency bands are expected to be a crucial part of 6G networks. Performance analysis of mmWave communication scenarios and modeling of various protocols in those situations have demonstrated the burst-error nature of mmWave channels. With the increasing adoption of such communication standards operating in lossy conditions, advanced communication techniques have started to be explored within the context of bursty channels. Network coding is one such widely utilized technology for achieving high-throughput and reliable communication over lossy channels. This work focuses on modeling the TCP and TCP/NC protocols within a burst-error scenario, mainly focusing on the presence of time-out events as sources of window size reduction. We provide a detailed analysis of throughput and congestion control, along with their formulation and simulated results. We show that, even with the presence of time-out events, TCP/NC outperforms standard TCP by over an order of magnitude.