QUIC performance evaluation in satellite networks: development of tools and result analysis

The current state of global connectivity is a resultof many years of research and innovation, enabling worldwide communication through protocols like TCP/IP. These protocols rely on continuous end-to-end paths, short round-trip times, and low packet loss; when these conditions are not met, as in space communications, networks become "challenged" and TCP/IP proves inadequate. In space communications, high propagation delays and intermittent links—due to satellite movements and planetary rotations—prompted early 2000s research into alternative architectures. This led to the creation of the Inter-Planetary Network (IPN), later expanded into Delay-/Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) as detailed in RFC 4838. DTN introduces a Bundle Layer, using the Bundle Protocol (RFC 5050/9171) to manage message transfers, and employs Convergence Layer Adapters (CLAs) to interface with various underlying transport protocols. Another approach to handle high delays is to modify TCP behavior itself. The University of Bologna developed a variant known as Hybla, aimed at boosting performance and preventing bandwidth starvation. This thesis is part of a broader research project—including companion theses from colleagues at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) —investigating the use of the QUIC protocol in satellite and interplanetary networks. The project involved developing a QUIC convergence layer adapter and adapting TCP Hybla to QUIC’s specifications. The work presented here focuses on describing QUIC and its implementations, enhancing testing tools, and analyzing experimental results. Tests were performed on a virtual machine testbed via SSH instructions contained in a bash script; data was processed by Python scripts that automatically generate graphs from LibreOffice .ods files.