Multi-Path TCP Page
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University of Essen / Institute for Experimental Mathematics / Computer Networking Technology Group / Thomas Dreibholz
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The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) has been standardised by the IETF more than 30 years ago in RFC 793. Clearly, a lot of improvements have been made to TCP during these years. However, one major property did not change: a TCP connection is established between two IP-addresses (client and server). These addresses must remain fixed over the whole connection lifetime. A change of an address – which is not unlikely in mobility scenarios – breaks the connection. Also, even if an endpoints has multiple addresses (e.g. a smartphone connected to 3G/4G and WLAN simultaneously, or a system connected to two providers) can just use the selected address. Any change requires to reestablish the connection with another address.
Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), defined in RFC 6824, is a relatively new extension to TCP that adds multi-homing and multi-path transport capabilities to TCP. That is, instead of just connecting an endpoint to one network – corresponding to a single Internet Service Provider (ISP) – it is possible to have connectivity to multiple networks (usually: multiple ISPs) simultaneously. Then, in case of a failure within some of the networks, an MPTCP connection can still remain active unless all networks stop working. This so-called multi-homing feature is particularly necessary for redundancy. The example figure above shows a setup with Endpoint A being connected to three networks and Endpoint B being connected to three networks. Also, MPTCP is able to modify addresses during the connection lifetime (e.g. on handover in mobility scenarios).
Of course, having multiple network connections – and having to pay for them – leads to the motivation of using all connections simultaneously, by distributing the data over all possible paths. This is denoted as Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT) or shortly multi-path transfer; this is the most important feature of MPTCP.
MPTCP has many mechanisms in common with the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) and its extensions. SCTP has been delevoped earlier, but – as a new protocol – requires acceptance by middleboxes like firewalls or Network Address Translation (NAT) with Port Address Translation (PAT) to work in many Internet setups (e.g. at a home user's site). MPTCP, on the other hand, has been developed to work around these issues: MPTCP packets look, from the perspective of a middlebox, like regular TCP flows. That is, existing firewalls and NAT/PAT devices can handle them without any change.
MPTCP is still under development, with ongoing research work on how to handle the scheduling of data to multiple paths, how to efficiently perform congestion control and how to achieve fairness of resource sharing. This research is currently ongoing – also of course with help of the NorNet Testbed – and contributes knowledge and insights to the ongoing standardisation process within the IETF MPTCP Working Group.
The complete BibTeX references in a single file can be found here!
Dreibholz, Thomas; Bjørgeengen, Jarle and Werme, Jonas: ``Monitoring and Maintaining the Infrastructure of the NorNet Testbed for Multi-Homed Systems´´ (PDF, 538 KiB,  Page_files/flag-england.png "in English")
), in 5th International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), Gwangju/South Korea, March 2015, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, Internet Testbed, Monitoring, Multi-Homing, Path Characteristics, Resilience
Abstract: NorNet Core is the world's first, open, large-scale Internet testbed for multi-homed systems and applications. Particularly, it is currently used for research on topics like multi-path transport and resilience. Researchers can run experiments on distributed, programmable nodes that are distributed over various locations and providing access to multiple different Internet service providers (ISP) with different access technologies. Clearly, a key feature of this testbed is to work in the real-world Internet. That is, it is especially desired to expose experiments to real Internet behaviour like background traffic. However, for the researcher, it is necessary to actually know how paths – being used for an experiment – actually behave: Are the paths actually working? How are the round-trip times among sites over different ISPs, etc.. How did the behaviour change over time? To provide such information to the researchers, we have designed and developed a maintenance and monitoring infrastructure for the NorNet Core testbed. In this paper, we will first introduce this infrastructure. Furthermore, we will demonstrate its usefulness with some useful, real-world examples. Our infrastructure has now become part of the testbed, and it is therefore available for all users of NorNet Core as well.
URL: https://www.nntb.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/pams2015-nornet-monitoring-web.pdf
MD5: de8568f766023dba008bb7201f92b6a3
Dreibholz, Thomas; Zhou, Xing and Fa, Fu: ``Multi-Path TCP in Real-World Setups – An Evaluation in the NorNet Core Testbed´´ (PDF, 211 KiB, ), in 5th International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), Gwangju/South Korea, March 2015, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Evaluation
Abstract: Nowadays, cloud applications are becoming more and more popular. However, in order for such applications to work, they need a stable Internet connectivity. To avoid the Internet access becoming a single point of failure, redundancy by multi-homing – i.e. simultaneous access to multiple Internet service providers (ISP) – is becoming increasingly common as well. Multi-homing leads to the desire to utilise all network attachment points simultaneously, which is e.g. provided by the Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) extension for TCP. MPTCP is still under development by researchers and standardisation in the IETF. Particularly, it is necessary to evaluate MPTCP under realistic Internet conditions. NorNet Core is the world's first, large-scale Internet testbed for multi-homed systems and applications. It is therefore a useful platform for evaluating MPTCP. In this paper, we therefore present our NorNet Core extension that adds MPTCP support to the testbed. Particularly, our extension is now available to all users of NorNet Core as well, which significantly reduces the effort of MPTCP researchers to evaluate MPTCP and its improvements. In a proof of concept, we furthermore show the strengths and weaknesses of state-of-the-art MPTCP in NorNet Core, in a configuration covering 29 ISP connections at 14 sites in 5 different countries.
URL: https://www.nntb.no/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/pams2015-mptcp-web.pdf
MD5: 1d87843d61fd55880aa7aa25fba51e19
Ferlin, Simone; Dreibholz, Thomas and Alay, Özgü: ``Multi-Path Transport over Heterogeneous Wireless Networks: Does it really pay off?´´ (PDF, 986 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), pp. 5005–5011, ISBN 978-1-4799-3512-3, Austin, Texas/U.S.A., December 11, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Path Transport, Multi-Path TCP, Heterogeneous Networks, Mobile Broadband, Performance
Abstract: Multi-path transfer protocols such as Concurrent Multi-Path Transfer for SCTP and Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP), are becoming increasingly popular due to widespread deployment of smartphones with multi-homing support. Although the idea of using multiple interfaces simultaneously to improve application throughput is tempting, does transmission over multiple interfaces always provide benefits especially in realistic setup? In this paper, we first show that multi-path transfer might actually have a negative impact in real-world scenarios with mobile broadband and wireless LAN networks. We then introduce our Dynamic Relative Path Scoring (DRePaS) algorithm that continuously evaluates the contribution of paths to the overall performance and dynamically influences the scheduling decisions to make best use of the paths for the overall system performance. We show that DRePaS outperforms the current MPTCP implementation in terms of throughput and application delay, especially when the links are heterogeneous.
MD5: 5a0ad1ae3594f3818c63345173b9fc1e
Dreibholz, Thomas; Simonsen, Henrik Vest and Gran, Ernst Gunnar: ``A Demonstration of the NorNet Core Research Testbed for Multi-Homed Systems´´ (PDF, 60 KiB, ), Demo Presentation at the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), Austin, Texas/U.S.A., December 9, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Demonstration, NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Resilience
Abstract: This abstract describes a demonstration proposal for the NorNet Core testbed for multi-homed systems.
MD5: e94511a7807546cd2c2acf7c6e438f9d
Golkar, Forough; Dreibholz, Thomas and Kvalbein, Amund: ``Measuring and Comparing Internet Path Stability in IPv4 and IPv6´´ (PDF, 436 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Conference on the Network of the Future (NoF), ISBN 978-1-4799-7531-0, Paris/France, December 4, 2014, [BibTeX, XML]. Awarded with the Best Paper Award.
Keywords: NorNet Core, Internet, IPv4, IPv6, Path Stability, Resilience, Robustness
Abstract: In just about 4 years, IPv6 will celebrate its 20th anniversary. While the protocol itself is already quite old, its deployment has only recently picked up speed. Not so many Internet service providers offer direct IPv6 connectivity to their customers, yet. Clearly, when IPv6 is available to customers, they expect that IPv6 offers at least the same – or even better – stability of connections in comparison to IPv4. The main goal of this paper is to investigate whether this is true today. In our paper, we present up-to-date measurement results on the stability of IPv4 and IPv6 paths in the real Internet, based on machines that are distributed over a large geographical area, as part of the NorNet Core testbed infrastructure for multi-homed systems. The measurements not only cover high-speed research networks, but also consumer-grade ADSL connections – i.e. the ISP connection types of "normal" end-users – as well as a broad range of different ISPs. The measurements show that IPv6 paths are less stable than corresponding IPv4 paths. We also find that the use of load balancing is more prevalent in IPv6 than in IPv4.
MD5: e94bfd5f13ed1ab81ac86b90fc1bbfe1
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``An Experiment Tutorial for the NorNet Core Testbed at Hainan University´´ (PDF, 2148 KiB, ), Tutorial at Hainan University, College of Information Science and Technology (CIST), Haikou, Hainan/People's Republic of China, October 27, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Tutorial
Abstract: This tutorial – presented for students at the College of Information Science and Technology (CIST) at Hainan University – provides an introduction on how to get access to the NorNet Core testbed as well as how to run experiments in the testbed.
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Dreibholz, Thomas: ``An Experiment Tutorial for the NorNet Core Testbed´´ (PDF, 6033 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 2nd International NorNet Users Workshop (NNUW-2), Fornebu, Akershus/Norway, August 29, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Tutorial
Abstract: This tutorial provides an introduction on how to get access to the NorNet Core testbed as well as how to run experiments in the testbed.
MD5: 9711b4f32dd9a2c4946aa4aeceeac31c
Alay, Özgü; Ferlin, Simone and Dreibholz, Thomas: ``Multipath Transport over Heterogeneous Networks´´ (PDF, 2930 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 2nd International NorNet Users Workshop (NNUW-2), Fornebu, Akershus/Norway, August 29, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
MD5: 3b1f2c76b82d27ee2eb7c4830a489783
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The NorNet Core Testbed – Introduction and Status in August 2014´´ (PDF, 14850 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 2nd International NorNet Users Workshop (NNUW-2), Fornebu, Akershus/Norway, August 28, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Introduction
Abstract: This talk provides an introduction to the NorNet Core testbed as well as a status overview on the development and deployment in August 2014.
MD5: e2f018deb04a839bf93f842bb729d012
Ferlin, Simone; Dreibholz, Thomas and Alay, Özgü: ``Tackling the Challenge of Bufferbloat in Multi-Path Transport over Heterogeneous Wireless Networks´´ (PDF, 820 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Quality of Service (IWQoS), pp. 123–128, DOI 10.1109/IWQoS.2014.6914310, ISBN 978-1-4799-4852-9, Hong Kong/People's Republic of China, May 26, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Path Transport, Performance, Bufferbloat, Mobile Broadband Networks, MPTCP, NorNet Edge
Abstract: Today, most of the smart phones are equipped with two network interfaces: Mobile Broadband (MBB) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Multi-path transport protocols provide increased throughput or reliability, by utilizing these interfaces simultaneously. However, multi-path transmission over networks with very different QoS characteristics is a challenge. In this paper, we studied Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) in heterogeneous networks, specifically MBB networks and WLAN. We first investigate the effect of bufferbloat in MBB on MPTCP performance. Then, we propose a bufferbloat mitigation algorithm: Multi-Path Transport Bufferbloat Mitigation (MPT-BM). Using our algorithm, we conduct experiments in real operational networks. The experimental results show that MPT-BM outperforms the current MPTCP implementation by increasing the application goodput quality and decreasing MPTCP's buffer delay, jitter and buffer space requirements.
MD5: 41fdb83e1fa929ad9523504ea7b43402
Adhari, Hakim; Werner, Sebastian; Dreibholz, Thomas and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``LEDBAT-MP – On the Application of Lower-than-Best-Effort for Concurrent Multipath Transfer´´ (PDF, 1229 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), DOI 10.1109/WAINA.2014.125, ISBN 978-1-4799-2652-7, Victoria, British Columbia/Canada, May 16, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Path Transfer, Congestion Control, Background Traffic, CMT-SCTP, MPTCP
Abstract: The Internet is based on best effort communication, i.e. it tries to deliver packets but does not provide any guarantees. A transport protocol can make use of this best effort service to provide a suitable service to its applications. Also, its congestion control is responsible for a fair distribution of the resources within the Internet. However, background data transfer applications (like file sharing or update fetching) do not require "best effort"; they in fact could use a "lower-than-best-effort" service to leave resources to more important applications if needed. For this purpose, the Low Extra Delay Background Transport (LEDBAT) algorithm has been standardized by the IETF. Nowadays, multi-homing is becoming increasingly common in modern networks and several approaches to exploit this feature (e.g. CMT-SCTP, MPTCP) have evolved that are able to combine resources of multiple paths. For background traffic oriented algorithms like LEDBAT, this feature could be of great use, too, i.e. by increasing the overall bandwidth while shifting the transmission away from paths which are used by other flows. This could be particularly useful for non-critical bulk transfers in data centres. In this paper, we introduce our approach LEDBAT for Multi-Path – denoted as LEDBAT-MP – and analyze its performance by simulations. With this paper, we want to highlight some generic design questions and start a discussion on how a solid universal background multi-path congestion control strategy should behave.
MD5: dfdfcfef3b476f3d9aad8215ef058662
Ferlin, Simone; Dreibholz, Thomas; Alay, Özgü and Kvalbein, Amund: ``Measuring the QoS Characteristics of Operational 3G Mobile Broadband Networks´´ (PDF, 1524 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), pp. 753–758, DOI 10.1109/WAINA.2014.123, ISBN 978-1-4799-2652-7, Victoria, British Columbia/Canada, May 16, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Path Transport, Mobile Broadband Networks, Performance, Measurements, Quality of Service
Abstract: Today, many smart phones and tablets have multiple interfaces (i.e. WLAN and 3G). These multiple interfaces can be utilized simultaneously by a multi-path transport protocol to provide bandwidth aggregation or reliability. However, in order to design efficient multi-path scheduling and congestion control strategies, it is crucial to understand the behaviour and properties of the underlying paths first. WLAN links have already been studied extensively in the literature. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on Mobile Broadband (MBB) networks that are in use today. We utilized NorNet Edge nodes that are connected to up to five different 3G ISPs (UMTS and CDMA2000), hence, providing a realistic view on the QoS characteristics that are experienced by end-users of these MBB networks. We present QoS characteristics (e.g. bandwidth, delay and loss) and discuss our observations. Our results shed light on what a multi-path transport endpoint has to expect – and to efficiently cope with – when using today's MBB networks as transport paths.
MD5: 829e385c146f959a11e21b9e0f816091
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The NorNet Testbed for Multi-Homed Systems – Introduction and Status´´ (PDF, 8480 KiB, ), Invited Talk at Princeton University, Department of Computer Science, Princeton, New Jersey/U.S.A., May 8, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, NorNet Core, NorNet Edge, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Introduction, Status
Abstract: Multi-homing denotes the simultaneous connection of endpoints to multiple Internet Service Providers (ISP). That is, such endpoints should remain reachable even when some of the ISPs have problems. Besides the redundancy aspect, multi-homing can also make load sharing by multi-path transport possible, i.e. increasing the application throughput by utilizing multiple paths simultaneously. The growing need for and deployment of multi-homed applications makes large-scale testing and evaluation in realistic Internet setups necessary. For instance, different paths can have very different characteristics with regard to bandwidth, packet loss rate, congestion, delay and jitter. Therefore, the Simula Research Laboratory is building up the NorNet testbed, which is an open platform for such experiments. NorNet consists of two parts, the wireless part NorNet Edge as well as the wired part NorNet Core, providing researchers the possibility to use programmable, multi-homed nodes at different locations in Norway as well as at some international sites. This talk gives an overview over the NorNet testbed, with a special focus on the usage of the PlanetLab/Linux Containers-based software that is used to run NorNet Core.
MD5: b60311d5e6fb7858da54836e82aa3a67
Gran, Ernst Gunnar; Dreibholz, Thomas and Kvalbein, Amund: ``NorNet Core – A Multi-Homed Research Testbed´´ (PDF, 1458 KiB, ), in Computer Networks, Special Issue on Future Internet Testbeds, vol. 61, pp. 75–87, DOI 10.1016/j.bjp.2013.12.035, ISSN 1389-1286, March 14, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Routing, Transport, Applications
Abstract: Over the last decade, the Internet has grown at a tremendous speed in both size and complexity. Nowadays, a large number of important services – for instance e-commerce, healthcare and many others – depend on the availability of the underlying network. Clearly, service interruptions due to network problems may have a severe impact. On the long way towards the Future Internet, the complexity will grow even further. Therefore, new ideas and concepts must be evaluated thoroughly, and particularly in realistic, real-world Internet scenarios, before they can be deployed for production networks. For this purpose, various testbeds – for instance PlanetLab, GpENI or G-Lab – have been established and are intensively used for research. However, all of these testbeds lack the support for so-called multi-homing. Multi-homing denotes the connection of a site to multiple Internet service providers, in order to achieve redundancy. Clearly, with the need for network availability, there is a steadily growing demand for multi-homing. The idea of the NorNet Core project is to establish a Future Internet research testbed with multi-homed sites, in order to allow researchers to perform experiments with multi-homed systems. Particular use cases for this testbed include realistic experiments in the areas of multi-path routing, load balancing, multi-path transport protocols, overlay networks and network resilience. In this paper, we introduce the NorNet Core testbed as well as its architecture.
MD5: 2a2237f3e955ca8fb1b768b8a30ba7fe
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The Status of MPTCP Deployment and Evaluation in the NorNet Testbed´´ (PDF, 1514 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 89th IETF Meeting, London/United Kingdom, March 3, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
MD5: 79b1f59c28309d376f05b7ac3709ca9d
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The NorNet Core Testbed – An Experiment Tutorial´´ (PDF, 4454 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 1st International NorNet Users Workshop (NNUW-1), Fornebu, Akershus/Norway, September 19, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: This tutorial provides an introduction on how to get access to the NorNet Core testbed as well as how to run experiments in the testbed.
MD5: f67a3e0e340f676c96c4486cf5308000
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The NorNet Core Testbed – Introduction and Status´´ (PDF, 8399 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 1st International NorNet Users Workshop (NNUW-1), Fornebu, Akershus/Norway, September 18, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, NorNet Core, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transport, Introduction
MD5: 5c700705b018d485706b49a66b9d1a0c
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``The NorNet Testbed: A Platform for Evaluating Multi-Path Transport in the Real-World Internet´´ (PDF, 13341 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 87th IETF Meeting, Berlin/Germany, July 30, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
MD5: 60e2a88f7784a2ad5e95af77b4eac809
Dreibholz, Thomas and Ferlin, Simone: ``The NorNet Research Testbed´´ (PDF, 12015 KiB, ), Talk, in Proceedings of the CHANGE Bootcamp Workshop, Louvain-la-Neuve/Belgium, July 17, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
MD5: d6ee4ec1a6e0f3b30afbe4ac8e24aeac
Becke, Martin; Dreibholz, Thomas; Bayer, Andreas; Packeiser, Markus and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``Alternative Transmission Strategies for Multipath Transport of Multimedia Streams over Wireless Networks´´ (PDF, 792 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 12th IEEE International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL), pp. 147–153, ISBN 978-953-184-175-7, Zagreb/Croatia, June 26, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Path Transfer, Multimedia Transport, Scheduling Strategies, Real-Time, Wireless
Abstract: With the strongly growing popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers, the number of end-systems with more than one network access – like UMTS/LTE and WLAN – is also increasing. This so-called multi-homing also leads to the desire of utilising multiple network paths simultaneously, in order to improve application payload throughput. Clearly, this so-called multi-path transfer feature is also very useful for the transport of multimedia contents, particularly when a single network access alone is not fast enough to fulfil the bandwidth requirements of the application. In many cases, multimedia transport is also sensitive for delays and packet losses. However, the focus of the current multi-path transfer approaches has been on bandwidth only. In order to tackle this challenge, our paper introduces two new send strategies to map payload data to different wireless paths. Finally, by using measurements, we show that a significant performance improvement for delay and loss-sensitive applications can be achieved in comparison to the existing approaches.
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Dreibholz, Thomas and Gran, Ernst Gunnar: ``Design and Implementation of the NorNet Core Research Testbed for Multi-Homed Systems´´ (PDF, 20082 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 3nd International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), pp. 1094–1100, DOI 10.1109/WAINA.2013.71, ISBN 978-0-7695-4952-1, Barcelona, Catalonia/Spain, March 27, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NorNet, Testbed, Multi-Homing, Design, Implementation
Abstract: The Internet has made it possible to communicate and to use services over large geographical distances. While it has originally been built for less critical services like e-mail and file transfer, it is nowadays also increasingly often used for availability-critical services like e.g. e-commerce or healthcare. Clearly, the reachability of such services must be ensured by so-called multi-homing of endpoints. That is, endpoints are simultaneously connected to multiple Internet Service Providers (ISP) to provide redundancy. If one ISP has problems, it is intended that the connection to another one still works. However, such assumptions have never been verified in real, large-scale setups. The intention of the NorNet project is to build up a realistic Internet testbed for multi-homing. In this paper, we describe the design of NorNet with focus on the implementation of its fixed-line part: NorNet Core. This paper is intended to give researchers an overview of its mode of operation, its capabilities as well as its interesting feature realisations. The knowledge about these items is very useful to plan own experiments in the NorNet testbed.
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Becke, Martin; Dreibholz, Thomas; Adhari, Hakim and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``On the Fairness of Transport Protocols in a Multi-Path Environment´´ (PDF, 1970 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), pp. 2666–2672, DOI 10.1109/ICC.2012.6363695, ISBN 978-1-4577-2052-9, Ottawa, Ontario/Canada, June 12, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Homing, Multi-Path Transfer, Fairness, Congestion Control, Future Internet
Abstract: Today, a steadily growing number of devices contains multiple network interfaces. For example, nearly all smartphones are equipped with at least W-LAN as well as 3G/4G interfaces. In consequence, there is a rising demand for so-called multi-path transfer, which utilizes all of these interfaces simultaneously in order to maximize the payload throughput of applications. Currently, this so-called multi-path transfer is very actively discussed by the IETF, in form of the Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) extension for TCP as well as the Concurrent Multi-path Transfer extension for SCTP (CMT-SCTP). Their larger-scale deployment in the Internet is expected for the near future. A key issue that prevents the standardization of these approaches is the fairness to concurrent TCP flows. A multi-path transfer should behave "TCP-friendly", i.e. cause no harm to the performance of the very widely deployed TCP-based applications. In this paper, we first extend the notion of "fairness" from single-path transport to multi-path transport. Furthermore, we introduce the relevant congestion control approaches in the IETF context for single-path as well as multi-path transfer. We simulatively analyze these approaches in a couple of interesting network configuration scenarios, in order to show their behavior with special regard to the fairness definitions. Particularly, we also point out items of further discussion which are the result of the current approaches.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/ICC2012.pdf
MD5: 88ea6b1a3bfc82f23629900ac4a9f6b7
Becke, Martin; Dreibholz, Thomas; Adhari, Hakim and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``A Future Internet Architecture supporting Multipath Communication Networks´´ (PDF, 743 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 13th IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS), pp. 639–642, DOI 10.1109/NOMS.2012.6211975, ISBN 978-1-4673-0268-5, Maui, Hawaii/U.S.A., April 19, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Future Internet, Multipath Communications, Encapsulated Responsibility-Centric Architecture Model (ERiCA), Responsibilities, Decision Domains
Abstract: The classic layered OSI reference model has reached its limits for the Internet of today. In this paper, we propose a clean-slate conceptual design of a new architecture as a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the Future Internet. We address the shortcomings of the layered model by redesigning the classical model. Our approach differs from the concepts found in prior work, which focus on special parts of the problems (such as the application, the service or the event) by staggering back a couple of steps and trying to see the requirements from a different perspective. Our concept – which is denoted as Encapsulated Responsibility-Centric Architecture Model (ERiCA) – focuses on determining the responsibilities by using different planes in addition to a partitioning of the network into different decision domains. With this partitioning, we can reduce the complexity of providing a certain service.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/NOMS2012.pdf
MD5: 0d471bef76ec8ae66b71f28e254deb82
Dreibholz, Thomas; Adhari, Hakim; Becke, Martin and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``Simulation and Experimental Evaluation of Multipath Congestion Control Strategies´´ (PDF, 403 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), DOI 10.1109/WAINA.2012.186, ISBN 978-0-7695-4652-0, Fukuoka/Japan, March 29, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multipath Transfer, Congestion Control, Performance Analysis, Simulation, Measurement
Abstract: The need for service resilience is leading to a steadily growing number of multi-homed Internet sites. In consequence, this results in a growing demand for utilising multiple Internet accesses simultaneously, in order to improve application payload throughput during normal operation. Multi-path Transport Layer protocol extensions – like Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) for TCP and Concurrent Multipath Transfer for SCTP (CMT-SCTP) – allow applications to make use of such network topologies. However, since TCP – which constitutes the basis of most Internet applications – and its congestion control procedures have been designed under the assumption of single-homed sites, fairness issues may arise by the usage of multipath transport. These issues are addressed by advanced congestion control approaches, which have already been examined by simulations. However, real-life network measurements are missing. In this paper, we perform an experimental proof-of-concept evaluation of several multipath congestion control strategies, which are currently under discussion within the IETF in the context of MPTCP as well as CMT-SCTP. Particularly, we validate effects that have been observed in simulations, in order to trigger further discussions on multipath congestion control. Also, our goal is to provide insight into the different approaches to support the ongoing IETF standardisation activities on multipath transport protocols.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/PAMS2012.pdf
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Adhari, Hakim; Becke, Martin and Dreibholz, Thomas: ``On the Fairness of Transport Protocols in a Multi-Path Environment´´ (PDF, 1004 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 83rd IETF Meeting, Paris/France, March 27, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
URL: https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/83/slides/slides-83-iccrg-3.pdf
MD5: 1345b92fb66655adf2b3c9c9827e2068
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``Evaluation and Optimisation of Multi-Path Transport using the Stream Control Transmission Protocol´´ (PDF, 36779 KiB, ), Habilitation Treatise, University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Economics, Institute for Computer Science and Business Information Systems, URN urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-20120315-103208-1, March 13, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), Multi-Path Transport, Dissimilar Paths, Fairness, Evaluation, Optimisation
Abstract: The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) as defined in RFC 4960 is an advanced Transport Layer protocol that provides support for multi-homing. That is, SCTP endpoints may simultaneously use multiple Network Layer addresses, which allows to connect the endpoints to multiple networks for redundancy purposes. However, for the transfer of user data, only one of the possible paths is currently used at a time. All other paths remain as backup and are only used for retransmissions. Clearly, the existence of multiple paths has led to the idea of applying load sharing among the paths. An extension to SCTP – denoted as Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT) – realises this load sharing functionality. While this approach works well for similar paths, i.e. paths having similar characteristics regarding bandwidths, bit error rates and delays, the use of dissimilar paths does not work that neatly. In this thesis, the issues of dissimilar paths for CMT-based load sharing will be demonstrated first. The reasons for these issues will be identified and solutions proposed. These solutions will be evaluated in simulations, as well as partially also in a real-world Internet testbed setup, in order to show their effectiveness. In particular, it will be shown that a combination of multiple mechanisms is necessary to make CMT work as expected under a wide range of network and system parameters. Furthermore, the fairness of CMT-based transport – in concurrency to classic non-CMT flows – will be analysed. The usage of plain CMT leads to an overly aggressive bandwidth occupation on so-called shared bottlenecks. As a countermeasure, the idea of Resource Pooling will be utilised. For this purpose, two new and one adapted congestion control approach – all based on the Resource Pooling principle – will be introduced and examined in similar as well as dissimilar path setups, in order to show how to fairly deploy CMT transport in the Internet. The results of this work have also been contributed to the ongoing IETF standardisation process of SCTP and its extensions.
URL: http://duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de/servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-29737/Dre2012_final.pdf
MD5: add34f0b780cb35b7ee1f963ea85e59c
Dreibholz, Thomas: ``Konzepte für das Future Internet aus der Netzperspektive´´ (PDF, 5777 KiB,  Page_files/flag-germany.png "in German")
), Habilitation Talk, University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Economics, Institute for Computer Science and Business Information Systems, URN urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-20120404-135350-0, March 13, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Future Internet, Habilitationsvortrag
Abstract: Vielen seiner Benutzer erscheint das Internet als neuartig und hochmodern. Seine Grundlagen jedoch sind keineswegs neu, sondern basieren auf mittlerweile fast 40 Jahre alten Ideen. Dienste werden mittels eines geschichteten, hierarchischen Protokollstacks realisiert, bei welchem eine Interaktion nicht-benachbarter Schichten nicht vorgesehen ist. Dieser starre Aufbau macht bereits das Anpassen der Internet-Architektur an die Anforderungen der heutigen Anwendungen – wie etwa File Sharing, Videotelefonie und mobile Endgeräte – kompliziert. Die großen Herausforderungen des zukünftigen Internets – welches als das Future Internet bezeichnet wird – mit Anwendungsszenarien wie Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Sensornetzwerken und vielen weiteren – erfordern jedoch noch weitaus umfangreichere Anpassungen. Zudem ist eine große Flexibilität erforderlich, um auch weiteren – heute noch nicht absehbaren – Anforderungen gerecht zu werden. Im Rahmen dieses Habilitationsvortrages wird zunächst kurz auf die Probleme des aktuellen Internets eingegangen sowie die Herausforderungen des Future Internets vorgestellt. Im Anschluss daran wird eine Auswahl der für den Übergang zum Future Internet möglichen evolutionären sowie revolutionären Ansätze vorgestellt. Der Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei auf den noch relativ neuen – und in der Forschung momentan sehr aktiv diskutierten – revolutionären Ansätzen, welche mit der Idee des sogenannten Clean Slate einen vollständigen Neuansatz anstreben. Hierbei werden die Ansätze der Funktionalen Komposition, des Content-Centric Networking sowie der Virtualisierung von Netzwerken vorgestellt. Zum Schluss wird dann auf die Frage eingegangen, wie eine Nutzung der vorgestellten Ansätze in der Praxis möglich ist und welche der aktuell in Diskussion befindlichen Ansätze sich in Zukunft voraussichtlich durchsetzen werden.
MD5: bd09fd9172fccb9edd4ee88299038f47
Dreibholz, Thomas; Adhari, Hakim; Becke, Martin and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``NetPerfMeter – A Versatile Tool for Multi-Protocol Network Performance Evaluations´´ (PDF, 334 KiB, ), OMNeT++ Code Contribution, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Experimental Mathematics, February 8, 2012, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Application Model, NetPerfMeter, Performance Evaluation, Multipath Transfer
Abstract: Transport Layer protocols supporting multipath transfer, i.e. to simultaneously utilise multiple Network Layer paths, are actively discussed in the IETF – particularly in the context of Multi-Path TCP (MPTCP) and Concurrent Multipath Transfer for SCTP (CMT-SCTP). Congestion control for such protocols is an important research topic. In this code contribution paper, we introduce our application model NetPerfMeter. NetPerfMeter has been developed for performance evaluations of different transport protocols, like for the Linux/FreeBSD performance metering application NetPerfMeter.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/NetPerfMeterSim2012.pdf
MD5: dc5a70671636b3367df1a2878f6081fd
Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Adhari, Hakim and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``Evaluation of A New Multipath Congestion Control Scheme using the NetPerfMeter Tool-Chain´´ (PDF, 360 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM), pp. 1–6, ISBN 978-953-290-027-9, Hvar/Croatia, September 16, 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: NetPerfMeter Tool-Chain, Concurrent Multipath Transfer, Congestion Control, Dissimilar Paths, Performance Analysis
Abstract: Multi-homed Internet sites become more and more widespread, due to the rising dispersal of inexpensive Internet access technologies combined with the growing deployment of resilience-critical applications. Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT) denotes the Transport Layer approach to utilise multiple network paths simultaneously, in order to improve application payload throughput. Currently, CMT is a quite hot topic in the IETF – in form of the Multipath TCP (MPTCP) and CMT-SCTP protocol extensions for TCP and SCTP. However, an important issue is still not fully solved: multipath congestion control. In order to support the IETF activities, we have set up a distributed Internet testbed for CMT evaluation. An important tool – which we have developed for multi-protocol Transport Layer performance analysis – is the Open Source NetPerfMeter tool-chain. It supports the parametrisation and processing of measurement runs as well as results collection, post-processing and plotting. However, its key feature is to support multiple Transport Layer protocols, which makes a quantitative comparison of different protocols – including state-of-the-art features like CMT – possible. In this paper, we first introduce NetPerfMeter and then show a proof-of-concept performance evaluation of CMT congestion controls which are currently discussed in the IETF standardisation process of CMT-SCTP.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/SoftCOM2011.pdf
MD5: 23b808c6caa72f0cfb5213d8b6cf7b31
Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Adhari, Hakim and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``On the Impact of Congestion Control for Concurrent Multipath Transfer on the Transport Layer´´ (PDF, 6498 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 11th IEEE International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL), pp. 397–404, ISBN 978-953-184-152-8, Graz, Steiermark/Austria, June 16, 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Concurrent Multipath Transfer, Congestion Control, Resource Sharing, Dissimilar Paths, Performance Analysis
Abstract: Due to the resilience requirements of a steadily growing number of critical Internet services (like emergency call handling or e-commerce transactions), the deployment of multi-homed network sites becomes more and more common. Having multiple Internet access paths, it seems straightforward to utilise them simultaneously in order to improve payload throughput by so-called Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT). Currently, CMT extensions for the two important Internet Transport Layer protocols – Multipath-TCP (MPTCP) for TCP and CMT-SCTP for SCTP – are in the focus of IETF standardisation. A challenge – which is currently very actively discussed in the IETF context – is congestion control for these CMT protocols. Based on the idea of Resource Pooling (RP), two approaches are currently discussed in the IETF: our own approach CMT/RP for CMT-SCTP as well as the MPTCP congestion control for MPTCP. Both approaches only have been roughly tested yet – mostly in similar path setups, i.e. paths having almost the same QoS characteristics, using "their" protocol. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to compare the existing approaches. Particularly, we also analyse more challenging scenarios containing dissimilar paths, i.e. paths having differing characteristics. Our goal is to provide insight into the different approaches, to support the IETF standardisation activities on CMT.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/ConTEL2011.pdf
MD5: aaf983738968d60f58a9abafc54d4344
Adhari, Hakim; Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Rathgeb, Erwin Paul and Tüxen, Michael: ``Evaluation of Concurrent Multipath Transfer over Dissimilar Paths´´ (PDF, 666 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Protocols and Applications with Multi-Homing Support (PAMS), pp. 708–714, DOI 10.1109/WAINA.2011.92, ISBN 978-0-7695-4338-3, Singapore, March 22, 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Concurrent Multipath Transfer, Dissimilar Paths, Buffer Handling, Performance Analysis, Experimental Validation
Abstract: The steadily growing deployment of resilience-critical Internet services is leading to an increasing number of Multi-Homed network sites. Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL) are an inexpensive way to add a secondary Internet access connection. With the development of Multi-Path Transport Layer protocols – like Multipath TCP (MPTCP) and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) furnished by a Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT-SCTP) extension – there is also a strong interest in utilising all access connections simultaneously to improve the data throughput of the applications. However, combining network paths over ADSL with paths over other access technologies like fibre optic links implies highly dissimilar paths with significantly different bandwidths, delays and queuing behaviours. Efficient Multi-Path transport over such dissimilar paths is a challenging task for the new Transport Layer protocols under development. In this paper, we show the difficulties of Multi-Path transport in a real-world dissimilar path setup which consists of a high-speed fibre optic link and an ADSL connection. After that, we present an optimised buffer handling technique which solves the transport efficiency issues in this setup. Our optimisation is first analysed by simulations. Finally, we also show the usefulness of our approach by experimental evaluation in a real Multi-Homed Internet setup.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/PAMS2011.pdf
MD5: a19f952606b97dc19de3870e7af038ca
Becke, Martin; Dreibholz, Thomas; Rathgeb, Erwin Paul and Formann, Johannes: ``Link Emulation on the Data Link Layer in a Linux-based Future Internet Testbed Environment´´ (PDF, 465 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Networks (ICN), pp. 92–98, ISBN 978-1-61208-002-4, St. Maarten/Netherlands Antilles, January 25, 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Link Emulation, Data Link Layer, Future Internet Testbed, NetEm, Dummynet
Abstract: Protocol design and development is not a straight-forward process. Each approach must be validated for interactions and side-effects in the existing network environments. But the Internet itself is not a good test environment, since its components are not controllable and certain problem situations (like congestion or error conditions) are difficult to reproduce. Various testbeds have been built up to fill this gap. Most of these testbeds also support link emulation, i.e. using software to mimic the characteristic behaviour of certain kinds of network links (like bandwidth bottlenecks or error-prone radio transmissions). The most popular link emulation systems are the Linux-based NetEm and Dummynet, which are e.g. applied on the IP layer of Planet-Lab and various other testbeds. However, the restriction to the OSI Network Layer (here: IP) is insufficient to test new non-IP Future Internet protocols. In this paper, we first introduce Dummynet and NetEm. After that, we will present our approach of adapting Dummynet for Linux to support link emulation on the Data Link Layer. Finally, we evaluate the applicability and performance of Dummynet and NetEm for link emulation on the Data Link Layer, in a Planet-Lab-based testbed environment. Our goal is to outline the performance and limitations of both approaches in the context of Planet-Lab-based testbeds, in order to make them applicable for the evaluation of non-IP Future Internet protocols.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/ICN2011.pdf
MD5: 7dc2f73a942b21aaf8993354ead8f9e2
Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Rathgeb, Erwin Paul and Tüxen, Michael: ``On the Use of Concurrent Multipath Transfer over Asymmetric Paths´´ (PDF, 1036 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), DOI 10.1109/GLOCOM.2010.5683579, ISBN 978-1-4244-5637-6, Miami, Florida/U.S.A., December 7, 2010, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Concurrent Multipath Transfer, Resource Pooling, Asymmetric Paths, Buffer Handling, Performance Analysis
Abstract: With the deployment of more and more resilience-critical Internet applications, there is a rising demand for multi-homed network sites. This leads to the desire for simultaneously utilising all available access paths to improve application data throughput. This is commonly known as Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT); approaches for several Transport Layer protocols have been proposed. Combined with Resource Pooling (RP), CMT can also fairly coexist with concurrent non-CMT flows. Current approaches focus on symmetric paths (i.e. similar bandwidth, delay and error rate). However, asymmetric paths are much more likely – particularly for realistic Internet setups – and efficient CMT usage on such paths is therefore crucial. In this paper, we first show the challenges of plain as well as RP-aware CMT data transport over asymmetric paths. After that, we introduce mechanisms for efficient transport over such paths. Finally, we analyse the performance of our approaches by using simulations.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/Globecom2010.pdf
MD5: 96629a6c95f6882e9fdd54acdee2de5d
Dreibholz, Thomas; Seggelmann, Robin; Tüxen, Michael and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``Transmission Scheduling Optimizations for Concurrent Multipath Transfer´´ (PDF, 633 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Protocols for Future, Large-Scale and Diverse Network Transports (PFLDNeT), vol. 8, ISSN 2074-5168, Lancaster, Pennsylvania/U.S.A., November 29, 2010, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Concurrent Multipath Transfer, Scheduling, Optimizations, Analysis
Abstract: SCTP is a general-purpose Transport Layer protocol with out-of-the-box support for multi-streaming as well as multi-homing. A protocol extension, which is denoted as CMT-SCTP, extends SCTP by supporting Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT). That is, multiple network paths are utilized simultaneously in order to improve the payload data throughput. However, dissimilar paths – i.e. paths having different delays or bandwidths – are challenging and also very likely in internet setups. In this paper, we show how CMT-SCTP data transport performance can be improved by combining multi-streaming with an advanced stream scheduling policy and SCTP API enhancements. The performance benefit of our approach in dissimilar path setups is proven by simulations.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/PFLDNeT2010.pdf
MD5: 18c2a0c4862d943aa53ff719459d7203
Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Henke, Christian and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``An Approach for Transferring an End-to-End Transport Service into a Functional Building Block Structure´´ (PDF, 149 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 5th GI/ITG KuVS Workshop on the Future Internet, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg/Germany, June 9, 2010, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Transport, Multi-Path, Functional Building Blocks, Cross-Layer Optimization, Future Internet
Abstract: Current network stacks based on the classic OSI layered reference model are restricted and inflexible, which makes the addition and deployment of new features difficult. Operating systems offer an interface for the Transport Layer functionalities to applications. The usage of this interface is very widespread, making it useful to maintain this interface. However, the layered structure should be replaced. In this paper, we propose our approach for breaking up the functionalities of the OSI Transport Layer into the concept so called functional building blocks. Each functional building block provides a particular service, which – in interaction with the other functional building blocks – is able to provide a service similar to the classic OSI Transport Layer. The concept allows for easy removal, replacement or addition of existing and new functional building blocks to adapt the service to state-of-the-art and future requirements, particularly including multi-path transport and QoS.
URL: http://www.future-internet.org/files/2010/Folien/Abstract_Dreibholz2.pdf
MD5: e39b36008b54d24b3dfb391ac8b3eeb5
Dreibholz, Thomas; Becke, Martin; Pulinthanath, Jobin and Rathgeb, Erwin Paul: ``Applying TCP-Friendly Congestion Control to Concurrent Multipath Transfer´´ (PDF, 957 KiB, ), in Proceedings of the 24th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA), pp. 312–319, DOI 10.1109/AINA.2010.117, ISBN 978-0-7695-4018-4, Perth, Western Australia/Australia, April 21, 2010, [BibTeX, XML].
Keywords: Multi-Homing, Congestion Control, Resource Pooling, Fairness, Proof of Concept
Abstract: The steadily growing importance of Internet-based applications and their resilience requirements lead to a rising number of multi-homed sites. The idea of Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT) is to exploit the existence of multiple paths among endpoints to increase application data throughput. However, handling the congestion control of each path independently lacks of fairness against non-CMT flows. In this paper, we describe our approach of combining CMT with the idea of Resource Pooling (RP) in order to achieve a performance improvement over non-CMT transfer while still remaining fair to concurrent flows on congested links. Unlike existing approaches which adapt classic TCP to a multi-homed CMT protocol, our approach does not depend on specific characteristics of TCP. Instead, we base on already entrenched functional blocks of CMT transfer, on the example of the CMT-enabled SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol). In a simulative proof-of-concept analysis, we show that our approach – while relatively simple – is already quite effective.
URL: https://www.wiwi.uni-due.de/fileadmin/fileupload/I-TDR/SCTP/Paper/AINA2010.pdf
MD5: 11d400faa0a4c994d27fa6a6ebc5f9cc
 Page_files/icon-expanded.svg){kind=icon}
The complete BibTeX references in a single file can be found here!
Barré, Sébastien; Detal, Gregory and Bonaventure, Olivier: ``TFO Support for Multipath TCP´´ (TXT, 28 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-barre-mptcp-tfo-01, IETF, Individual Submission, January 12, 2015, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-barre-mptcp-tfo-00.
Abstract: TCP Fast Open (TFO) is a TCP extension that allows sending data in the SYN, instead of waiting until the TCP connection is established. This document describes what parts of Multipath TCP must be adapted to support it, and how TFO and MPTCP can operate together.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-barre-mptcp-tfo-01.txt
MD5: 231c50e7132b5892158beae42722a9f3
Xu, Mingwei; Cao, Yu and Dong, Enhuan: ``Delay-based Congestion Control for MPTCP´´ (TXT, 20 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-xu-mptcp-congestion-control-01, IETF, Individual Submission, January 5, 2015, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-xu-mptcp-congestion-control-00.
Abstract: This document describes the mechanism of wVegas (weighted Vegas), which is a delay-based congestion control for MPTCP. The current congestion control algorithm of MPTCP, LIA, achieves only course- grained load balancing, since it is based on packet loss event. On the contrary, wVegas adopts packet queuing delay as congestion signals, thus achieving fine-grained load balancing. Compared with loss-based algorithms, wVegas is more sensitive to changes of network congestion and thus achieves more timely traffic shifting and quicker convergence. WVegas has been implemented in the Linux Kernel and is part of the UCLouvain's MPTCP implementation now.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-xu-mptcp-congestion-control-01.txt
MD5: 84f9b1113c8c13e0c1f2a543849cd998
Deng, Lingli; Liu, Dapeng; Sun, Tao; Boucadair, Mohamed and Cauchie, Gregory: ``Use-cases and Requirements for MPTCP Proxy in ISP Networks´´ (TXT, 40 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-deng-mptcp-proxy-01, IETF, Individual Submission, October 26, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-deng-mptcp-proxy-00.
Abstract: This document presents the use-cases and identifies requirements for ISP deployed MPTCP proxies for both Fixed and Mobile networks.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-deng-mptcp-proxy-01.txt
MD5: 8e0a05cd5cd34763a020710d155e3298
Bonaventure, Olivier; Paasch, Christoph and Detal, Gregory: ``Experience with Multipath TCP´´ (TXT, 52 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-ietf-mptcp-experience-00, IETF, September 16, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-bonaventure-mptcp-experience-00.
Abstract: This document discusses operational experiences of using Multipath TCP in real world networks. It lists several prominent use cases for which Multipath TCP has been considered and is being used. It also gives insight in some heuristics and decisions that have helped to realize these use cases. Further, it presents several open issues that are yet unclear on how they can be solved.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-mptcp-experience-00.txt
MD5: f4ffcda9038ccf6c2ec26b39833bfa88
Walid, Anwar; Peng, Qiuyu; Hwang, Jaehyun and Low, Steven H.: ``Balanced Linked Adaptation Congestion Control Algorithm for MPTCP´´ (TXT, 21 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-walid-mptcp-congestion-control-01, IETF, Individual Submission, July 27, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-walid-mptcp-congestion-control-00.
Abstract: This document describes the mechanism of Balia, the "Balanced linked adaptation", which is a congestion control algorithm for Multipath TCP (MPTCP). The recent proposals, LIA and OLIA, suffer from either unfriendliness to Single Path TCP (SPTCP) or unresponsiveness to network changes under certain conditions. The tradeoff between friendliness and responsiveness is inevitable, but Balia judiciously balances this tradeoff based on a new design framework that allows one to systematically explore the design space. Balia has been implemented in the Linux kernel and there are plans to make it available for experimentation.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-walid-mptcp-congestion-control-01.txt
MD5: c72058fb5959af3aa0d606c61fd31e4f
Khalili, Ramin; Gast, Nicolas Garbiel; Popović, Miroslav and Boudec, Jean-Yves Le: ``Opportunistic Linked-Increases Congestion Control Algorithm for MPTCP´´ (TXT, 24 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-khalili-mptcp-congestion-control-05, IETF, Individual Submission, July 4, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-khalili-mptcp-congestion-control-04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Abstract: This document describes the mechanism of OLIA, the "Opportunistic Linked Increases Algorithm". OLIA is a congestion control algorithm for MPTCP. The current congestion control algorithm of MPTCP, LIA [4], forces a tradeoff between optimal congestion balancing and responsiveness. OLIA's design departs from this tradeoff and provide these properties simultaneously. Hence, it solves the identified performance problems with LIA while retaining non-flappiness and responsiveness behavior of LIA, as shown by different studies [5, 6, 7, 8]. OLIA is now part of the UCLouvain's MPTCP implementation [9, 11].
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-khalili-mptcp-congestion-control-05.txt
MD5: 2b9c59e9cf8df07c3dd540097b897ba4
Khalili, Ramin; Gast, Nicolas Garbiel; Popović, Miroslav and Boudec, Jean-Yves Le: ``Performance Issues with MPTCP´´ (TXT, 44 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-khalili-mptcp-performance-issues-06, IETF, Individual Submission, July 4, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-khalili-mptcp-performance-issues-05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Abstract: We show, by measurements over a testbed and by mathematical analysis, that the current MPTCP suffers from two problems: (P1) Upgrading some TCP users to MPTCP can reduce the throughput of others without any benefit to the upgraded users; and (P2) MPTCP users can be excessively aggressive towards TCP users. We attribute these problems to the "Linked Increases" Algorithm (LIA) of MPTCP [4], and more specifically, to an excessive amount of traffic transmitted over congested paths. Our results show that these problems are important and can be mitigated. We believe that the design of the congestion control of MPTCP should be improved.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-khalili-mptcp-performance-issues-06.txt
MD5: 53d2fc371b5d161ebaca1a1e7fd05166
Braun, Marcelo Bagnulo; Paasch, Christoph; Gont, Fernando; Bonaventure, Olivier and Raiciu, Costin: ``Analysis of MPTCP Residual Threats and Possible Fixes´´ (TXT, 40 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-ietf-mptcp-attacks-02, IETF, July 3, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-attacks-01, 00.
Abstract: This documents performs an analysis of the residual threats for MPTCP and explores possible solutions to them.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-mptcp-attacks-02.txt
MD5: 74697676a8ebe389eae9532875f53e68
Bonaventure, Olivier; Paasch, Christoph and Detal, Gregory: ``Processing of RST Segments by Multipath TCP´´ (TXT, 28 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-bonaventure-mptcp-rst-00, IETF, Individual Submission, July 3, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: This document discusses how a Multipath TCP implementation should generate and process RST segments.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-bonaventure-mptcp-rst-00.txt
MD5: 133ca3b1300a72b9c24e5f57895dd4be
Wei, Xinpeng and Xiong, Chunshan: ``MPTCP Proxy Mechanisms´´ (TXT, 25 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-wei-mptcp-proxy-mechanism-00, IETF, Individual Submission, June 29, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: Multipath TCP provides the ability to simultaneously use multiple paths between peers for a TCP/IP session, and it could improve resource usage within the network and, thus, improve user experience through higher throughput and improved resilience to network failure. This document discusses the mechanism of a new network entity, named MPTCP proxy, which is aimed to assist MPTCP capable peer to use MPTCP session in case of one of the peers not being MPTCP capable.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-wei-mptcp-proxy-mechanism-00.txt
MD5: 389772c27a8ed9e42189e365348e3e65
Deng, Lingli; Liu, Dapeng and Sun, Tao: ``MPTCP Proxy for Mobile Networks´´ (TXT, 13 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-deng-mptcp-mobile-network-proxy-00, IETF, Individual Submission, February 14, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: This document discusses the motivation and usecases for ISP deployed MPTCP proxies in mobile networks.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-deng-mptcp-mobile-network-proxy-00.txt
MD5: bcdefd585214ce81618966ebb73f6090
Braun, Marcelo Bagnulo: ``Secure MPTCP´´ (TXT, 18 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-bagnulo-mptcp-secure-00, IETF, Individual Submission, February 12, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: This memo contains some initial thoughts about how to secure MPTCP. As currently defined, MPTCP provides basic security features to protect the MPTCP signaling and the data flows unprotected. In this note, we explore the possible use to tcpcrypt to provide enhanced security to MPTCP.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-bagnulo-mptcp-secure-00.txt
MD5: 2e3ec022f5178ce96b8ee227279ddba1
Paasch, Christoph and Bonaventure, Olivier: ``A Generic Control Stream for Multipath TCP´´ (TXT, 27 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-paasch-mptcp-control-stream-00, IETF, Individual Submission, February 11, 2014, [BibTeX, XML].
Abstract: Multipath TCP's extensive use of TCP options to exchange control information consumes a significant part of the TCP option space. Extending MPTCP to add more control information into the session becomes cumbersome as the TCP option space is limited to 40 bytes. This draft introduces a control stream that allows to send control information as part of the subflow's payload. The control stream is mapped into a separate sequence number space and uses a TLV-format for maximum extensibility. It is left to future documents to specify how the TLV-format might be used to exchange control information. As the control stream is sent as part of the subflow's payload, it is not subject to the 40 bytes limitation of the TCP option space.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-paasch-mptcp-control-stream-00.txt
MD5: b00bdbe6e95f7adf0a82b825dbb3877b
Eardley, Philip L.: ``Survey of MPTCP Implementations´´ (TXT, 88 KiB, ), Internet Draft draft-eardley-mptcp-implementations-survey-02, IETF, Individual Submission, July 12, 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-eardley-mptcp-implementations-survey-01, 00.
Abstract: This document presents results from the survey to gather information from people who have implemented MPTCP, in particular to help progress the protocol from Experimental to Standards track. The document currently includes answers from four teams: a Linux implementation from UCLouvain, a FreeBSD implementation from Swinburne, an anonymous implementation in a commercial OS, and a NetScalar Firmware implementation from Citrix Systems, Inc. Thank- you! In summary, we have four independent implementations of all the MPTCP signalling messages, with the exception of address management, and some interoperabiity testing has been done by the other three implementations with the 'reference' Linux implementation. So it appears that the RFC is (at least largely) clear and correct. On address management, we have only one implementation of ADD_ADDR with two teams choosing not to implement it. We have one implementation of the working group's coupled congestion control (RFC6356) and none of the MPTCP-aware API (RFC6897). The main suggested improvements are around o how MPTCP falls back (if the signalling is interrupted by a middlebox): (1) corner cases that are not handled properly, (2) at the IETF, the MPTCP community should work with middlebox vendors, either to reduce or eliminate the need for fallback or to understand the middlebox interactions better. o security: both better MPTCP security (perhaps building on SSL) and a lighter weight mechanism, preferably both in one mechanism. It is hoped that the next version can include information from any other implementations. If you are an implementer and want to contribute your answers, please see the -01 version of this document for a blank survey ready to be filled in.
URL: https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-eardley-mptcp-implementations-survey-02.txt
MD5: b31b0299013229b2c2a5d84183b05e12
Scharf, Michael and Ford, Alan: ``Multipath TCP (MPTCP) Application Interface Considerations´´ (TXT, 74 KiB, ), Informational RFC 6897, IETF, ISSN 2070-1721, March 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-api-07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Historic versions: draft-scharf-mptcp-api-02, 01, 00.
Abstract: Multipath TCP (MPTCP) adds the capability of using multiple paths to a regular TCP session. Even though it is designed to be totally backward compatible to applications, the data transport differs compared to regular TCP, and there are several additional degrees of freedom that applications may wish to exploit. This document summarizes the impact that MPTCP may have on applications, such as changes in performance. Furthermore, it discusses compatibility issues of MPTCP in combination with non-MPTCP-aware applications. Finally, the document describes a basic application interface that is a simple extension of TCP's interface for MPTCP-aware applications.
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6897.txt
MD5: cc231b1e50a72828522a3e7bbaa09857
Ford, Alan; Raiciu, Costin; Handley, Mark and Bonaventure, Olivier: ``TCP Extensions for Multipath Operation with Multiple Addresses´´ (TXT, 162 KiB, ), RFC 6824, IETF, ISSN 2070-1721, January 2013, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-multiaddressed-12, 11, 10, 09, 08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Historic versions: draft-ford-mptcp-multiaddressed-03, 02, 01, 00.
Abstract: TCP/IP communication is currently restricted to a single path per connection, yet multiple paths often exist between peers. The simultaneous use of these multiple paths for a TCP/IP session would improve resource usage within the network and, thus, improve user experience through higher throughput and improved resilience to network failure. Multipath TCP provides the ability to simultaneously use multiple paths between peers. This document presents a set of extensions to traditional TCP to support multipath operation. The protocol offers the same type of service to applications as TCP (i.e., reliable bytestream), and it provides the components necessary to establish and use multiple TCP flows across potentially disjoint paths. This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community.
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6824.txt
MD5: 1879d3fef18becd38ff746e6627e4246
Raiciu, Costin; Handley, Mark and Wischik, Damon: ``Coupled Congestion Control for Multipath Transport Protocols´´ (TXT, 28 KiB, ), RFC 6356, IETF, ISSN 2070-1721, October 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-congestion-07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Historic versions: draft-raiciu-mptcp-congestion-00.
Abstract: Often endpoints are connected by multiple paths, but communications are usually restricted to a single path per connection. Resource usage within the network would be more efficient were it possible for these multiple paths to be used concurrently. Multipath TCP is a proposal to achieve multipath transport in TCP. New congestion control algorithms are needed for multipath transport protocols such as Multipath TCP, as single path algorithms have a series of issues in the multipath context. One of the prominent problems is that running existing algorithms such as standard TCP independently on each path would give the multipath flow more than its fair share at a bottleneck link traversed by more than one of its subflows. Further, it is desirable that a source with multiple paths available will transfer more traffic using the least congested of the paths, achieving a property called "resource pooling" where a bundle of links effectively behaves like one shared link with bigger capacity. This would increase the overall efficiency of the network and also its robustness to failure. This document presents a congestion control algorithm that couples the congestion control algorithms running on different subflows by linking their increase functions, and dynamically controls the overall aggressiveness of the multipath flow. The result is a practical algorithm that is fair to TCP at bottlenecks while moving traffic away from congested links. This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community.
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6356.txt
MD5: 3ed0c7d6cb296c05c297287e23077969
Ford, Alan; Raiciu, Costin; Handley, Mark; Barré, Sébastien and Iyengar, Janardhan R.: ``Architectural Guidelines for Multipath TCP Development´´ (TXT, 68 KiB, ), Informational RFC 6182, IETF, ISSN 2070-1721, March 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-architecture-05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Historic versions: draft-ford-mptcp-architecture-00.
Abstract: Hosts are often connected by multiple paths, but TCP restricts communications to a single path per transport connection. Resource usage within the network would be more efficient were these multiple paths able to be used concurrently. This should enhance user experience through improved resilience to network failure and higher throughput. This document outlines architectural guidelines for the development of a Multipath Transport Protocol, with references to how these architectural components come together in the development of a Multipath TCP (MPTCP). This document lists certain high-level design decisions that provide foundations for the design of the MPTCP protocol, based upon these architectural requirements. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6182.txt
MD5: bd404dc270f6c6b553b36a81f1f7565e
Braun, Marcelo Bagnulo: ``Threat Analysis for TCP Extensions for Multipath Operation with Multiple Addresses´´ (TXT, 44 KiB, ), Informational RFC 6181, IETF, ISSN 2070-1721, March 2011, [BibTeX, XML].
Previous versions: draft-ietf-mptcp-threat-08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00.
Historic versions: draft-bagnulo-mptcp-threat-01, 00.
Abstract: Multipath TCP (MPTCP for short) describes the extensions proposed for TCP so that endpoints of a given TCP connection can use multiple paths to exchange data. Such extensions enable the exchange of segments using different source-destination address pairs, resulting in the capability of using multiple paths in a significant number of scenarios. Some level of multihoming and mobility support can be achieved through these extensions. However, the support for multiple IP addresses per endpoint may have implications on the security of the resulting MPTCP. This note includes a threat analysis for MPTCP. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.
URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6181.txt
MD5: 0a579671ca0a9db101e1fc4af40bca78
29.01.2015 Thomas Dreibholz, University of Duisburg-Essen / Institute for Experimental Mathematics / Computer Networking Technology Group
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