Error control for messaging applications in a wireless environment

The paper investigates error control mechanisms for mobile messaging applications, such as e-mail, fax, and credit card verification. Although existing protocols provide efficient error control over conventional networks, wireless networks present significant new challenges. The radio link introduces noise and multipath interference causing long periods of increased error rate, while host motion requires changing communication paths that can cause packet delay, misordering, duplication, and loss. Furthermore, scarce radio resources make bandwidth efficiency desirable. Using measurements from a field-deployed PCS system in Boulder Colorado, the authors identify two types of reception area. They highlight the benefits of powerful error control mechanisms in the fringe reception areas, especially selective acknowledgments and combining data from multiple transmissions