Web Transfer Over Satellites Being Improved

Extensive research conducted by NASA Lewis Research Center’s Satellite Networks and Architectures Branch and the Ohio University has demonstrated performance improvements in World Wide Web transfers over satellite-based networks. The use of a new version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) reduced the time required to load web pages over a single Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection traversing a satellite channel. However, an older technique of simultaneously making multiple requests of a given server has been shown to provide even faster transfer time (refs. 1 to 3).

Unfortunately, the use of multiple simultaneous requests has been shown to be harmful to the network in general. Therefore, we are developing new mechanisms for the HTTP protocol which may allow a single request at any given time to perform as well as, or better than, multiple simultaneous requests (ref. 4). In the course of study, we also demonstrated that the time for web pages to load is at least as short via a satellite link as it is via a standard 28.8-kbps dialup modem channel (ref. 5). This demonstrates that satellites are a viable means of accessing the Internet.

References

1. Kruse, H., et al.: HTTP Page Transfer Rates Over Geo-Stationary Satellite Links. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Telecommunication Systems, 1998, p. 518. (Available online: http://roland.grc.nasa.gov/~mallman/papers/nash98.ps
2. Kruse, H., et al.: Performance Analysis of the HTTP Protocol on Geostationary Satellite Links. Satellite Networks: Architectures, Applications, and Technologies Workshop. NASA CP-1998-208524, 1998, pp. 65-74.
3. Kruse, H., et al.: A Comprehensive Evaluation of HTTP Over Satellite Channels. Submitted to ACM Mobile Networks and Applications Journal (Dec. 1998).
4. Kruse, H.; Allman, M.; and Mallasch, P.: Network and User-Perceived Performance of Web Page Retrievals. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce (ICTEC), Nov. 1998. (Available online: http://roland.grc.nasa.gov/~mallman/papers/ecom98.ps)
5. Griner, J., et al.: Internet Over a Bi-Directional Satellite Link. Satellite Networks: Architectures, Applications, and Technologies Workshop. NASA CP-1998-208524, 1998, pp. 49-50. (Available online: http://roland.grc.nasa.gov/~jgriner/papers/workshop-demo.pdf) This file can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is incorporated in many Web browsers. You can download the current version of this software free and use it as a standalone program to view pdf files.

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Lewis contact: Mark Allman, (216) 433-6586, Mark.A.Allman@grc.nasa.gov
Author: Mark Allman
Headquarters program office: OSS
Programs/Projects: Aeronautics Base R&T

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