This paper aims to establish expressions for IEEE 802.11 string-topology multi-hop networks with transmission control protocol (TCP) traffic flow. The relationship between the throughput and transport-layer function in string-topology multi-hop network is investigated. From the investigations, we obtain an analysis policy that the TCP throughput under the TCP functions is obtained by deriving the throughput of the network with simplified into two asymmetric user datagram protocol flows. To express the asymmetry, analytical expressions in medium access control-, network-, and transport layers are obtained based on the airtime expression. The expressions of the network layer and those of transport layer are linked using the “delayed ACK constraint,” which is a new concept for TCP analysis. The analytical predictions agree well with the simulation results, which prove the validity of the obtained analytical expressions and the analysis policy in this paper.

Previous research shows that the IEEE 802.11 DCF channel contention mechanism is not capable of providing throughput fairness among nodes in different locations of the wireless mesh network. The node nearest the gateway will always strive for the chance to transmit data, causing fewer transmission opportunities for the nodes farther from the gateway, resulting in starvation. Prior studies modify the DCF mechanism to address the fairness problem. This paper focuses on the fairness study when TCP flows are carried over wireless mesh networks. By not modifying lower layer protocols, the current work identifies TCP parameters that impact throughput fairness and proposes adjusting those parameters to reduce frame collisions and improve throughput fairness. With the aid of mathematical formulation and ns2 simulations, this study finds that frame transmission from each node can be effectively controlled by properly controlling the delayed ACK timer and using a suitable advertised window. The proposed method reduces frame collisions and greatly improves TCP throughput fairness.