Question: In TCP, the window should not be _________.

Answer:

• In TCP, the window should not be zero. A zero window indicates that the receiver's buffer is full and cannot accept any more data.
• In TCP, the senders use the sliding window protocol to regulate the rate at which they can send data to the receivers. The sliding window mechanism allows the sender to send a certain number of packets before waiting for an acknowledgment from the receiver. If the window size is zero, it means that the receiver has no buffer space to accept any new data packets. In such cases, the sender cannot transmit any data, as there is no buffer space available for the receiver to store and process the incoming data. Therefore, having a zero window in TCP could lead to a deadlock situation where neither the sender nor the receiver can continue sending or receiving data. To avoid this situation, it is recommended to have a minimum window size of at least one, which allows the sender to transmit one packet and wait for the acknowledgment before transmitting the next one.