What, other than congestion control, limits the sending rate to TCP? Explain how this other limit works.
Try an answer before revealing the guidance below.
Key Concepts
- Flow control
- Receive window
- Receiver buffer
- Congestion window
Answer Approach
- Name the receiver-side mechanism.
- Identify where the receiver puts its limit in each segment.
- Explain how the sender combines this limit with the congestion window.
Full Answer
Answer status: Verified against study notes. Revision notes, not an official marking scheme.
TCP flow control limits the sender to the buffer space available at the receiver. The receiver advertises its available receive window (rwnd) in TCP headers. The sender must keep unacknowledged data within both rwnd and its congestion window, so the smaller of the two limits the amount in flight.
LastByteSent − LastByteAcked ≤ min(cwnd, rwnd)Shortcuts: K concepts · A approach · F answer · R reviewed · B bookmark · ← / → previous / next