Design Issues for Traffic Management for the ATM UBR+ Service for TCP over Satellite Networks

Several Ka-band satellite systems have been proposed that will use ATM technology to seamlessly transport htternet traffic. The ATM UBR, GFR atzd ABR service categories have been designed for dam. However; several studies have reported poor TCP performance over satellite-ATM networks. We describe techniques m improve TCP pet_brmance over satellite-ATM networks. We first discuss the various design options available for TCP end-systems, IP-A TM edge devices as well as A TM switches for long lateno_ connections. We discuss buffer management policies, guaranteed rate services, and the virtual source virtual destination option in ATM. We present a comparison of A TM service categories for TCP tran.wort over satellite links. The main goal of this paper is to discuss design and performance issues for the transport of TCP over UBR, GFR and ABR services for satellite-A TM networks. i This work was partially supported by the NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA/CR-1999-209158