Topologies for the Provision of Network-Coded Services via Shared Satellite Channels

Abstract

Network traffic using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) across shared bottleneck satellite channels can suffer significant impairment due to TCP queue oscillation. Coding of such network traffic across multiple Internet Protocol (IP) packets allows packet loss to be masked from the senders, letting TCP senders sustain higher goodput rates. We argue that the concept of tunneling coded traffic across a satellite link is a flexible one and does not rely on a one-size-fits-all solution. This paper discusses a number of network topology options for the deployment of coding, from the perspective of satellite providers, Internet service providers, end users and third-party entities.