An analysis of link level protocols for error prone links

Abstract

This paper analyzes the maximum throughput across a full duplex link, under three link level protocols. The three protocols all assume cumulative acknowledgements, but the sender's retransmission policy and the destination's policy on retaining correctly received packets which arrive before an expected retransmission do differ. The results quantify the throughput advantages in retaining all correctly received packets, for the two different retransmission policies. A retention policy on the part of the destination is most advantageous when the link is quite error-prone.