Enhanced acknowledgement and retransmission mechanism

A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor of a first device, cause the first device to:

• transmit, from the first device via at least a first path of a network to a second device, a series of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the series of PDUs includes an associated sequence number;
• receive a selective acknowledgement (SACK) message from the second device indicating that at least one unacknowledged PDU of the series of PDUs was not properly received by the second device;
• and
• transmit a control indicator responsive to receipt of the SACK message, the control indicator including a first sequence number to indicate that the first device will not retransmit an unacknowledged PDU associated with a prior sequence number earlier than the first sequence number.

An apparatus for communicating via a network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for transmitting, from a first device via at least a first path of the network to a second device, a series of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the series of PDUs includes an associated sequence number;
• means for receiving a selective acknowledgement (SACK) message from the second device indicating that at least one unacknowledged PDU of the series of PDUs was not properly received by the second device;
• and
• means for transmitting a control indicator responsive to receiving the SACK message, the control indicator including a first sequence number to indicate that the first device will not retransmit an unacknowledged PDU associated with a prior sequence number earlier than the first sequence number.