A Markovian model for TCP over ATM

This paper focuses on the development of an approximate Markov chain model and a detailed simulation model for the performance analysis of TCP connections supporting long file transfers within high-speed ATM networks. The Markov model construction is first illustrated, emphasizing the simplifying assumptions introduced to maintain an acceptable complexity in the performance study. Then the model validation is described, comparing the analytical results with those produced by a very detailed simulation setup in which the officially distributed BSD 4.3 TCP-reno code was adapted to run on top of a software tool for the simulation of ATM networks. Numerical results indicate that the analytical model is able to capture the overall behavior of the system with respect to the performance measures we consider, with a cost which is orders of magnitude less than the one necessary to obtain reliable estimates from the detailed simulation model. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]