Web access over a multiple access channel: evaluations and improvements

Abstract

We evaluate web browsing performance over a multiple access satellite channel for three different MAC layer protocols. A web user behavior model is used to generate realistic source traffic. A new transport layer protocol called RWBP is proposed to solve the TCP problems inside satellite networks. RWBP uses per-flow queuing, round robin scheduling and receiver window backpressure for congestion control. We compare its performance with TCP over the three multiple access protocols. Our simulation results show that RWBP can reduce the multiple access channel load and at the same time improve the web page response time when driven by realistic web traffic. For the MAC layer protocols, combined free demand assignment multiple access (CFDAMA) always performs better than the other two protocols.