1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
|
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) E. Blanton
Request for Comments: 6675 Purdue University
Obsoletes: 3517 M. Allman
Category: Standards Track ICSI
ISSN: 2070-1721 L. Wang
Juniper Networks
I. Jarvinen
M. Kojo
University of Helsinki
Y. Nishida
WIDE Project
August 2012
A Conservative Loss Recovery Algorithm Based on
Selective Acknowledgment (SACK) for TCP
Abstract
This document presents a conservative loss recovery algorithm for TCP
that is based on the use of the selective acknowledgment (SACK) TCP
option. The algorithm presented in this document conforms to the
spirit of the current congestion control specification (RFC 5681),
but allows TCP senders to recover more effectively when multiple
segments are lost from a single flight of data. This document
obsoletes RFC 3517 and describes changes from it.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by
the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further
information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of
RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any
errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6675.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 1]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
1. Introduction
This document presents a conservative loss recovery algorithm for TCP
that is based on the use of the selective acknowledgment (SACK) TCP
option. While the TCP SACK option [RFC2018] is being steadily
deployed in the Internet [All00], there is evidence that hosts are
not using the SACK information when making retransmission and
congestion control decisions [PF01]. The goal of this document is to
outline one straightforward method for TCP implementations to use
SACK information to increase performance.
[RFC5681] allows advanced loss recovery algorithms to be used by TCP
[RFC793] provided that they follow the spirit of TCP's congestion
control algorithms [RFC5681] [RFC2914]. [RFC6582] outlines one such
advanced recovery algorithm called NewReno. This document outlines a
loss recovery algorithm that uses the SACK TCP option [RFC2018] to
enhance TCP's loss recovery. The algorithm outlined in this
document, heavily based on the algorithm detailed in [FF96], is a
conservative replacement of the fast recovery algorithm [Jac90]
[RFC5681]. The algorithm specified in this document is a
straightforward SACK-based loss recovery strategy that follows the
guidelines set in [RFC5681] and can safely be used in TCP
implementations. Alternate SACK-based loss recovery methods can be
used in TCP as implementers see fit (as long as the alternate
algorithms follow the guidelines provided in [RFC5681]). Please
note, however, that the SACK-based decisions in this document (such
as what segments are to be sent at what time) are largely decoupled
from the congestion control algorithms, and as such can be treated as
separate issues if so desired.
This document represents a revision of [RFC3517] to address several
situations that are not handled explicitly in that document. A
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 2]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
summary of the changes between this document and [RFC3517] can be
found in Section 9.
2. Definitions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
[RFC2119].
The reader is expected to be familiar with the definitions given in
[RFC5681].
The reader is assumed to be familiar with selective acknowledgments
as specified in [RFC2018].
For the purposes of explaining the SACK-based loss recovery
algorithm, we define six variables that a TCP sender stores:
"HighACK" is the sequence number of the highest byte of data that
has been cumulatively ACKed at a given point.
"HighData" is the highest sequence number transmitted at a given
point.
"HighRxt" is the highest sequence number which has been
retransmitted during the current loss recovery phase.
"RescueRxt" is the highest sequence number which has been
optimistically retransmitted to prevent stalling of the ACK clock
when there is loss at the end of the window and no new data is
available for transmission.
"Pipe" is a sender's estimate of the number of bytes outstanding
in the network. This is used during recovery for limiting the
sender's sending rate. The pipe variable allows TCP to use
fundamentally different congestion control than the algorithm
specified in [RFC5681]. The congestion control algorithm using
the pipe estimate is often referred to as the "pipe algorithm".
"DupAcks" is the number of duplicate acknowledgments received
since the last cumulative acknowledgment.
For the purposes of this specification, we define a "duplicate
acknowledgment" as a segment that arrives carrying a SACK block that
identifies previously unacknowledged and un-SACKed octets between
HighACK and HighData. Note that an ACK which carries new SACK data
is counted as a duplicate acknowledgment under this definition even
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 3]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
if it carries new data, changes the advertised window, or moves the
cumulative acknowledgment point, which is different from the
definition of duplicate acknowledgment in [RFC5681].
We define a variable "DupThresh" that holds the number of duplicate
acknowledgments required to trigger a retransmission. Per [RFC5681],
this threshold is defined to be 3 duplicate acknowledgments.
However, implementers should consult any updates to [RFC5681] to
determine the current value for DupThresh (or method for determining
its value).
Finally, a range of sequence numbers [A,B] is said to "cover"
sequence number S if A <= S <= B.
3. Keeping Track of SACK Information
For a TCP sender to implement the algorithm defined in the next
section, it must keep a data structure to store incoming selective
acknowledgment information on a per connection basis. Such a data
structure is commonly called the "scoreboard". The specifics of the
scoreboard data structure are out of scope for this document (as long
as the implementation can perform all functions required by this
specification).
Note that this document refers to keeping account of (marking)
individual octets of data transferred across a TCP connection. A
real-world implementation of the scoreboard would likely prefer to
manage this data as sequence number ranges. The algorithms presented
here allow this, but require the ability to mark arbitrary sequence
number ranges as having been selectively acknowledged.
Finally, note that the algorithm in this document assumes a sender
that is not keeping track of segment boundaries after transmitting a
segment. It is possible that there is a more refined and precise
algorithm available to a sender that keeps this extra state than the
algorithm presented herein; however, we leave this as future work.
4. Processing and Acting Upon SACK Information
This section describes a specific structure and control flow for
implementing the TCP behavior described by this standard. The
behavior is what is standardized, and this particular collection of
functions is the strongly recommended means of implementing that
behavior, though other approaches to achieving that behavior are
feasible.
The definition of Sender Maximum Segment Size (SMSS) used in this
section is provided in [RFC5681].
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 4]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
For the purposes of the algorithm defined in this document, the
scoreboard SHOULD implement the following functions:
Update ():
Given the information provided in an ACK, each octet that is
cumulatively ACKed or SACKed should be marked accordingly in the
scoreboard data structure, and the total number of octets SACKed
should be recorded.
Note: SACK information is advisory and therefore SACKed data MUST
NOT be removed from the TCP's retransmission buffer until the data
is cumulatively acknowledged [RFC2018].
IsLost (SeqNum):
This routine returns whether the given sequence number is
considered to be lost. The routine returns true when either
DupThresh discontiguous SACKed sequences have arrived above
'SeqNum' or more than (DupThresh - 1) * SMSS bytes with sequence
numbers greater than 'SeqNum' have been SACKed. Otherwise, the
routine returns false.
SetPipe ():
This routine traverses the sequence space from HighACK to HighData
and MUST set the "pipe" variable to an estimate of the number of
octets that are currently in transit between the TCP sender and
the TCP receiver. After initializing pipe to zero, the following
steps are taken for each octet 'S1' in the sequence space between
HighACK and HighData that has not been SACKed:
(a) If IsLost (S1) returns false:
Pipe is incremented by 1 octet.
The effect of this condition is that pipe is incremented for
packets that have not been SACKed and have not been determined
to have been lost (i.e., those segments that are still assumed
to be in the network).
(b) If S1 <= HighRxt:
Pipe is incremented by 1 octet.
The effect of this condition is that pipe is incremented for
the retransmission of the octet.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 5]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
Note that octets retransmitted without being considered lost are
counted twice by the above mechanism.
NextSeg ():
This routine uses the scoreboard data structure maintained by the
Update() function to determine what to transmit based on the SACK
information that has arrived from the data receiver (and hence
been marked in the scoreboard). NextSeg () MUST return the
sequence number range of the next segment that is to be
transmitted, per the following rules:
(1) If there exists a smallest unSACKed sequence number 'S2' that
meets the following three criteria for determining loss, the
sequence range of one segment of up to SMSS octets starting
with S2 MUST be returned.
(1.a) S2 is greater than HighRxt.
(1.b) S2 is less than the highest octet covered by any
received SACK.
(1.c) IsLost (S2) returns true.
(2) If no sequence number 'S2' per rule (1) exists but there
exists available unsent data and the receiver's advertised
window allows, the sequence range of one segment of up to SMSS
octets of previously unsent data starting with sequence number
HighData+1 MUST be returned.
(3) If the conditions for rules (1) and (2) fail, but there exists
an unSACKed sequence number 'S3' that meets the criteria for
detecting loss given in steps (1.a) and (1.b) above
(specifically excluding step (1.c)), then one segment of up to
SMSS octets starting with S3 SHOULD be returned.
(4) If the conditions for (1), (2), and (3) fail, but there exists
outstanding unSACKed data, we provide the opportunity for a
single "rescue" retransmission per entry into loss recovery.
If HighACK is greater than RescueRxt (or RescueRxt is
undefined), then one segment of up to SMSS octets that MUST
include the highest outstanding unSACKed sequence number
SHOULD be returned, and RescueRxt set to RecoveryPoint.
HighRxt MUST NOT be updated.
Note that rules (3) and (4) are a sort of retransmission "last
resort". They allow for retransmission of sequence numbers
even when the sender has less certainty a segment has been
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 6]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
lost than as with rule (1). Retransmitting segments via rule
(3) and (4) will help sustain the TCP's ACK clock and
therefore can potentially help avoid retransmission timeouts.
However, in sending these segments, the sender has two copies
of the same data considered to be in the network (and also in
the pipe estimate, in the case of (3)). When an ACK or SACK
arrives covering this retransmitted segment, the sender cannot
be sure exactly how much data left the network (one of the two
transmissions of the packet or both transmissions of the
packet). Therefore, the sender may underestimate pipe by
considering both segments to have left the network when it is
possible that only one of the two has.
(5) If the conditions for each of (1), (2), (3), and (4) are not
met, then NextSeg () MUST indicate failure, and no segment is
returned.
Note: The SACK-based loss recovery algorithm outlined in this
document requires more computational resources than previous TCP loss
recovery strategies. However, we believe the scoreboard data
structure can be implemented in a reasonably efficient manner (both
in terms of computation complexity and memory usage) in most TCP
implementations.
5. Algorithm Details
Upon the receipt of any ACK containing SACK information, the
scoreboard MUST be updated via the Update () routine.
If the incoming ACK is a cumulative acknowledgment, the TCP MUST
reset DupAcks to zero.
If the incoming ACK is a duplicate acknowledgment per the definition
in Section 2 (regardless of its status as a cumulative
acknowledgment), and the TCP is not currently in loss recovery, the
TCP MUST increase DupAcks by one and take the following steps:
(1) If DupAcks >= DupThresh, go to step (4).
Note: This check covers the case when a TCP receives SACK
information for multiple segments smaller than SMSS, which can
potentially prevent IsLost() (next step) from declaring a segment
as lost.
(2) If DupAcks < DupThresh but IsLost (HighACK + 1) returns true --
indicating at least three segments have arrived above the current
cumulative acknowledgment point, which is taken to indicate loss
-- go to step (4).
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 7]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
(3) The TCP MAY transmit previously unsent data segments as per
Limited Transmit [RFC5681], except that the number of octets
which may be sent is governed by pipe and cwnd as follows:
(3.1) Set HighRxt to HighACK.
(3.2) Run SetPipe ().
(3.3) If (cwnd - pipe) >= 1 SMSS, there exists previously unsent
data, and the receiver's advertised window allows, transmit
up to 1 SMSS of data starting with the octet HighData+1 and
update HighData to reflect this transmission, then return
to (3.2).
(3.4) Terminate processing of this ACK.
(4) Invoke fast retransmit and enter loss recovery as follows:
(4.1) RecoveryPoint = HighData
When the TCP sender receives a cumulative ACK for this data
octet, the loss recovery phase is terminated.
(4.2) ssthresh = cwnd = (FlightSize / 2)
The congestion window (cwnd) and slow start threshold
(ssthresh) are reduced to half of FlightSize per [RFC5681].
Additionally, note that [RFC5681] requires that any
segments sent as part of the Limited Transmit mechanism not
be counted in FlightSize for the purpose of the above
equation.
(4.3) Retransmit the first data segment presumed dropped -- the
segment starting with sequence number HighACK + 1. To
prevent repeated retransmission of the same data or a
premature rescue retransmission, set both HighRxt and
RescueRxt to the highest sequence number in the
retransmitted segment.
(4.4) Run SetPipe ()
Set a "pipe" variable to the number of outstanding octets
currently "in the pipe"; this is the data which has been
sent by the TCP sender but for which no cumulative or
selective acknowledgment has been received and the data has
not been determined to have been dropped in the network.
It is assumed that the data is still traversing the network
path.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 8]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
(4.5) In order to take advantage of potential additional
available cwnd, proceed to step (C) below.
Once a TCP is in the loss recovery phase, the following procedure
MUST be used for each arriving ACK:
(A) An incoming cumulative ACK for a sequence number greater than
RecoveryPoint signals the end of loss recovery, and the loss
recovery phase MUST be terminated. Any information contained in
the scoreboard for sequence numbers greater than the new value of
HighACK SHOULD NOT be cleared when leaving the loss recovery
phase.
(B) Upon receipt of an ACK that does not cover RecoveryPoint, the
following actions MUST be taken:
(B.1) Use Update () to record the new SACK information conveyed
by the incoming ACK.
(B.2) Use SetPipe () to re-calculate the number of octets still
in the network.
(C) If cwnd - pipe >= 1 SMSS, the sender SHOULD transmit one or more
segments as follows:
(C.1) The scoreboard MUST be queried via NextSeg () for the
sequence number range of the next segment to transmit (if
any), and the given segment sent. If NextSeg () returns
failure (no data to send), return without sending anything
(i.e., terminate steps C.1 -- C.5).
(C.2) If any of the data octets sent in (C.1) are below HighData,
HighRxt MUST be set to the highest sequence number of the
retransmitted segment unless NextSeg () rule (4) was
invoked for this retransmission.
(C.3) If any of the data octets sent in (C.1) are above HighData,
HighData must be updated to reflect the transmission of
previously unsent data.
(C.4) The estimate of the amount of data outstanding in the
network must be updated by incrementing pipe by the number
of octets transmitted in (C.1).
(C.5) If cwnd - pipe >= 1 SMSS, return to (C.1)
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 9]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
Note that steps (A) and (C) can potentially send a burst of
back-to-back segments into the network if the incoming cumulative
acknowledgment is for more than SMSS octets of data, or if incoming
SACK blocks indicate that more than SMSS octets of data have been
lost in the second half of the window.
5.1. Retransmission Timeouts
In order to avoid memory deadlocks, the TCP receiver is allowed to
discard data that has already been selectively acknowledged. As a
result, [RFC2018] suggests that a TCP sender SHOULD expunge the SACK
information gathered from a receiver upon a retransmission timeout
(RTO) "since the timeout might indicate that the data receiver has
reneged." Additionally, a TCP sender MUST "ignore prior SACK
information in determining which data to retransmit." However, since
the publication of [RFC2018], this has come to be viewed by some as
too strong. It has been suggested that, as long as robust tests for
reneging are present, an implementation can retain and use SACK
information across a timeout event [Errata1610]. While this document
does not change the specification in [RFC2018], we note that
implementers should consult any updates to [RFC2018] on this subject.
Further, a SACK TCP sender SHOULD utilize all SACK information made
available during the loss recovery following an RTO.
If an RTO occurs during loss recovery as specified in this document,
RecoveryPoint MUST be set to HighData. Further, the new value of
RecoveryPoint MUST be preserved and the loss recovery algorithm
outlined in this document MUST be terminated. In addition, a new
recovery phase (as described in Section 5) MUST NOT be initiated
until HighACK is greater than or equal to the new value of
RecoveryPoint.
As described in Sections 4 and 5, Update () SHOULD continue to be
used appropriately upon receipt of ACKs. This will allow the
recovery period after an RTO to benefit from all available
information provided by the receiver, even if SACK information was
expunged due to the RTO.
If there are segments missing from the receiver's buffer following
processing of the retransmitted segment, the corresponding ACK will
contain SACK information. In this case, a TCP sender SHOULD use this
SACK information when determining what data should be sent in each
segment following an RTO. The exact algorithm for this selection is
not specified in this document (specifically NextSeg () is
inappropriate during loss recovery after an RTO). A relatively
straightforward approach to "filling in" the sequence space reported
as missing should be a reasonable approach.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 10]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
6. Managing the RTO Timer
The standard TCP RTO estimator is defined in [RFC6298]. Due to the
fact that the SACK algorithm in this document can have an impact on
the behavior of the estimator, implementers may wish to consider how
the timer is managed. [RFC6298] calls for the RTO timer to be
re-armed each time an ACK arrives that advances the cumulative ACK
point. Because the algorithm presented in this document can keep the
ACK clock going through a fairly significant loss event
(comparatively longer than the algorithm described in [RFC5681]), on
some networks the loss event could last longer than the RTO. In this
case the RTO timer would expire prematurely and a segment that need
not be retransmitted would be resent.
Therefore, we give implementers the latitude to use the standard
[RFC6298]-style RTO management or, optionally, a more careful variant
that re-arms the RTO timer on each retransmission that is sent during
recovery MAY be used. This provides a more conservative timer than
specified in [RFC6298], and so may not always be an attractive
alternative. However, in some cases it may prevent needless
retransmissions, go-back-N transmission, and further reduction of the
congestion window.
7. Research
The algorithm specified in this document is analyzed in [FF96], which
shows that the above algorithm is effective in reducing transfer time
over standard TCP Reno [RFC5681] when multiple segments are dropped
from a window of data (especially as the number of drops increases).
[AHKO97] shows that the algorithm defined in this document can
greatly improve throughput in connections traversing satellite
channels.
8. Security Considerations
The algorithm presented in this paper shares security considerations
with [RFC5681]. A key difference is that an algorithm based on SACKs
is more robust against attackers forging duplicate ACKs to force the
TCP sender to reduce cwnd. With SACKs, TCP senders have an
additional check on whether or not a particular ACK is legitimate.
While not fool-proof, SACK does provide some amount of protection in
this area.
Similarly, [CPNI309] sketches a variant of a blind attack [RFC5961]
whereby an attacker can spoof out-of-window data to a TCP endpoint,
causing it to respond to the legitimate peer with a duplicate
cumulative ACK, per [RFC793]. Adding a SACK-based requirement to
trigger loss recovery effectively mitigates this attack, as the
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 11]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
duplicate ACKs caused by out-of-window segments will not contain SACK
information indicating reception of previously un-SACKED in-window
data.
9. Changes Relative to RFC 3517
The state variable "DupAcks" has been added to the list of variables
maintained by this algorithm, and its usage specified.
The function IsLost () has been modified to require that more than
(DupThresh - 1) * SMSS octets have been SACKed above a given sequence
number as indication that it is lost, which is changed from the
minimum requirement of (DupThresh * SMSS) described in [RFC3517].
This retains the requirement that at least three segments following
the sequence number in question have been SACKed, while improving
detection in the event that the sender has outstanding segments which
are smaller than SMSS.
The definition of a "duplicate acknowledgment" has been modified to
utilize the SACK information in detecting loss. Duplicate cumulative
acknowledgments can be caused by either loss or reordering in the
network. To disambiguate loss and reordering, TCP's fast retransmit
algorithm [RFC5681] waits until three duplicate ACKs arrive to
trigger loss recovery. This notion was then the basis for the
algorithm specified in [RFC3517]. However, with SACK information
there is no need to rely blindly on the cumulative acknowledgment
field. We can leverage the additional information present in the
SACK blocks to understand that three segments lying above a gap in
the sequence space have arrived at the receiver, and can use this
understanding to trigger loss recovery. This notion was used in
[RFC3517] during loss recovery, and the change in this document is
that the notion is also used to enter a loss recovery phase.
The state variable "RescueRxt" has been added to the list of
variables maintained by the algorithm, and its usage specified. This
variable is used to allow for one extra retransmission per entry into
loss recovery, in order to keep the ACK clock going under certain
circumstances involving loss at the end of the window. This
mechanism allows for no more than one segment of no larger than 1
SMSS to be optimistically retransmitted per loss recovery.
Rule (3) of NextSeg() has been changed from MAY to SHOULD, to
appropriately reflect the opinion of the authors and working group
that it should be left in, rather than out, if an implementor does
not have a compelling reason to do otherwise.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 12]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
10. Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Sally Floyd for encouraging [RFC3517] and
commenting on early drafts. The algorithm described in this document
is loosely based on an algorithm outlined by Kevin Fall and Sally
Floyd in [FF96], although the authors of this document assume
responsibility for any mistakes in the above text.
[RFC3517] was co-authored by Kevin Fall, who provided crucial input
to that document and hence this follow-on work.
Murali Bashyam, Ken Calvert, Tom Henderson, Reiner Ludwig, Jamshid
Mahdavi, Matt Mathis, Shawn Ostermann, Vern Paxson, and Venkat
Venkatsubra provided valuable feedback on earlier versions of this
document.
We thank Matt Mathis and Jamshid Mahdavi for implementing the
scoreboard in ns and hence guiding our thinking in keeping track of
SACK state.
The first author would like to thank Ohio University and the Ohio
University Internetworking Research Group for supporting the bulk of
his work on RFC 3517, from which this document is derived.
11. References
11.1. Normative References
[RFC793] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", STD 7, RFC
793, September 1981.
[RFC2018] Mathis, M., Mahdavi, J., Floyd, S., and A. Romanow, "TCP
Selective Acknowledgment Options", RFC 2018, October 1996.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC5681] Allman, M., Paxson, V., and E. Blanton, "TCP Congestion
Control", RFC 5681, September 2009.
11.2. Informative References
[AHKO97] Mark Allman, Chris Hayes, Hans Kruse, Shawn Ostermann,
"TCP Performance Over Satellite Links", Proceedings of the
Fifth International Conference on Telecommunications
Systems, Nashville, TN, March, 1997.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 13]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
[All00] Mark Allman, "A Web Server's View of the Transport Layer",
ACM Computer Communication Review, 30(5), October 2000.
[CPNI309] Fernando Gont, "Security Assessment of the Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP)", CPNI Technical Note 3/2009,
<http://www.gont.com.ar/papers/
tn-03-09-security-assessment-TCP.pdf>, February 2009.
[Errata1610]
RFC Errata, Errata ID 1610, RFC 2018,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org>.
[FF96] Kevin Fall and Sally Floyd, "Simulation-based Comparisons
of Tahoe, Reno and SACK TCP", Computer Communication
Review, July 1996.
[Jac90] Van Jacobson, "Modified TCP Congestion Avoidance
Algorithm", Technical Report, LBL, April 1990.
[PF01] Jitendra Padhye, Sally Floyd "Identifying the TCP Behavior
of Web Servers", ACM SIGCOMM, August 2001.
[RFC6582] Henderson, T., Floyd, S., Gurtov, A., and Y. Nishida, "The
NewReno Modification to TCP's Fast Recovery Algorithm",
RFC 6582, April 2012.
[RFC2914] Floyd, S., "Congestion Control Principles", BCP 41, RFC
2914, September 2000.
[RFC6298] Paxson, V., Allman, M., Chu, J., and M. Sargent,
"Computing TCP's Retransmission Timer", RFC 6298, June
2011.
[RFC3517] Blanton, E., Allman, M., Fall, K., and L. Wang, "A
Conservative Selective Acknowledgment (SACK)-based Loss
Recovery Algorithm for TCP", RFC 3517, April 2003.
[RFC5961] Ramaiah, A., Stewart, R., and M. Dalal, "Improving TCP's
Robustness to Blind In-Window Attacks", RFC 5961, August
2010.
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 14]
^L
RFC 6675 SACK Loss Recovery Algorithm for TCP August 2012
Authors' Addresses
Ethan Blanton
Purdue University Computer Sciences
305 N. University St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
United States
EMail: elb@psg.com
Mark Allman
International Computer Science Institute
1947 Center St. Suite 600
Berkeley, CA 94704
United States
EMail: mallman@icir.org
http://www.icir.org/mallman
Lili Wang
Juniper Networks
10 Technology Park Drive
Westford, MA 01886
United States
EMail: liliw@juniper.net
Ilpo Jarvinen
University of Helsinki
P.O. Box 68
FI-00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
Finland
EMail: ilpo.jarvinen@helsinki.fi
Markku Kojo
University of Helsinki
P.O. Box 68
FI-00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
Finland
EMail: kojo@cs.helsinki.fi
Yoshifumi Nishida
WIDE Project
Endo 5322
Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-8520
Japan
EMail: nishida@wide.ad.jp
Blanton, et al. Standards Track [Page 15]
^L
|