Modeling SCTP throughput in integrated WLAN/cellular networks

Stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) is a new transport layer protocol accepted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). A SCTP-based wireless local area network (WLAN)/cellular vertical handover scheme provides a network-independent solution to the integration of these two wireless access technologies. In this paper, to study the SCTP data transmission performance in a WLAN/cellular overlay environment, we develop a new analytical model that takes into account the congestion window, the round trip time, the slow start and congestion avoidance processes. By comparing numerical results from the analytical model with simulation results, we demonstrate that our model is able to predict SCTP throughput accurately. The analytical model provides a useful tool to study the performance of SCTP.