Real time communication over TCP

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer code stored therein, which when executed by a processor of a first communication device for real-time communication over a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) with a second communication device, cause the first communication device to perform operations comprising:

• obtaining a first TCP segment having a first sequence number from a TCP buffer in the first communication device;
• forming a first Internet Protocol (IP) packet comprising the first TCP segment and the first sequence number;
• transmitting the first IP packet comprising the first TCP segment with the first sequence number via a network to the second communication device;
• obtaining a second TCP segment having a second sequence number from the TCP buffer in the first communication device;
• forming a second IP packet comprising the second TCP segment and the second sequence number;
• receiving an indication that the first TCP segment should be retransmitted;
• replacing the second sequence number in the second IP packet with the first sequence number of the first IP packet;
• and
• transmitting the second IP packet comprising the second TCP segment with the first sequence number, instead of retransmitting the first IP packet, to the second communication device to meet TCP requirement of retransmission of a TCP segment associated with the first sequence number, but instead transmitting the second TCP segment to maintain real-time data flow to the second communication device.

A first communication device configured for real-time communication over a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) with a second communication device, the first communication device comprising:

• a set of one or more processors;
• and
• a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium containing code, which when executed by the set of one or more processors, cause the first communication device to:
• obtain a first TCP segment having a first sequence number from a TCP buffer in a TCP layer in the first communication device;
• form a first Internet Protocol (IP) packet comprising the first TCP segment and the first sequence number;
• transmit the first IP packet comprising the first TCP segment with the first sequence number via a network to the second communication device;
• obtain a second TCP segment having a second sequence number from the TCP buffer in the first communication device;
• form a second IP packet comprising the second TCP segment and the second sequence number;
• receive an indication that the first TCP segment should be retransmitted;
• replace the second sequence number in the second IP packet with the first sequence number of the first IP packet;
• and
• transmit the second IP packet comprising the second TCP segment with the first sequence number, instead of retransmitting the first IP packet, to the second communication device to meet TCP requirement of retransmission of a TCP segment associated with the first sequence number, but instead transmitting the second TCP segment to maintain real-time data flow to the second communication device.