TCP Performance Evaluation: Methodologies and Applications

In the paper a general discussion on the available methodologies for carrying out sound TCP performance evaluations is presented. Without aiming at being exhaustive, the authors start from their research experience to first describe the characteristics of the different approaches that can be pursued (simulation, test bed emulation, real Internet), and then to examine their advantages and disadvantages. A wide set of application examples, derived from real research topics recently investigated by the authors, complements the first sections of the paper. The objective is twofold: to show how the described evaluation tools are actually used, and to introduce to the unfamiliar reader some of the most interesting TCP enhancements, either proposed in the literature or included in the most advanced operating systems.