An Analytical Model to Study the Packet Loss Burstiness over Wireless Channels

It is widely recognized that the packet loss burstiness over wireless channels has a significant impact on the performance of network protocols. The analysis of packet loss burstiness, however, is very challenging, and there is a lack of well-established analytical models to provide fundamental insights for characterizing the burstiness. To address the issue, in this paper, we develop a generic analytical model to study the packet loss burstiness. In the model, we use the correlation length of packet loss rate as a metric to represent the packet loss burstiness mathematically, and we formulate the metric by investigating the correlations between packet losses. In addition, a closed-form expression of packet loss rate is derived for protocol design. We apply the model to design an adaptive packetization scheme, which can enhance the channel throughput by over 10%. Simulation results are given to validate the proposed model and scheme.