In-Network Retransmissions for Encrypted Transport Protocols

This paper describes and evaluates new techniques for network-originated retransmissions for end-to-end transport connections, yielding performance benefits for encrypted transport protocols in lossy settings. We use set-reconciliation techniques based on the Rateless IBLT to let receivers efficiently acknowledge encrypted packets to a middlebox, without modifying the sender or the underlying wire format. The scheme integrates awareness of in-network retransmissions within transport receivers, which delay some selective-acknowledgment ranges to reduce spurious end-to-end retransmissions. With these tools, transport receivers can receive protocol-agnostic, network-originated retransmissions for encrypted transport connections.