TCP/IP over ATM via Satellite Links

Living in the Information Age means that the more information is generated, the more new information is required. A large contributor to the rapid increase of new information and its ease of accessibility is the Internet. The backbone of the Internet is the TCP Internet protocol. New emerging network technology, ATM, achieves data throughput never before possible. Layering TCPIP over ATM will increase throughput performance that TCPIP could not achieve alone. With the growing desire to use satellites as a medium for the Internet as well as the large amounts of digitized communication that already occurs daily via satellites, the TCPIP proposes to become a standard for satellite communication. The high data rates of ATM, however, is very appealing for use on satellite links in an effort to make them more cost effective. Obstacles exist which prevent TCPIP over ATM in its current state from becoming an efficient way to send information to and from satellites. This paper looks at the unique challenges of networking via satellite links, discusses the impact of the satellite links on TCPIP over ATM and the limitations of TCPIP which are caused, and investigates solutions to these limitations.