Sequence Numbers and Acknowledgements
Sequence numbers are used to reassemble data in the order in which it was sent.
Sequence numbers increment based on the number of bytes in the TCP data field.
- Known as a Byte Sequencing Protocol
Each segment transmitted must be acknowledged.
- Multiple segments can be acknowledged
The ACK (Acknowledgment) field indicates the next byte (sequence) number the receiver expects to receive.
The sender, no matter how many transmitted segments, expects to receive an ACK that is one more than the number of the last transmitted byte.