An improved multi-path TCP scheme over handover between Wi-Fi and cellular networks

초록

We consider Multipath TCP (MPTCP) which allows simultaneous use of Wi-Fi and cellular interfaces for a single TCP connection, presenting a standard TCP socket API to the application. In previous work, Full-MPTCP mode and Back Mode have been proposed. In Full mode, both Wi-Fi and cellular are used while, in backup mode, only Wi-Fi is used when available and cellular is used only when Wi-Fi is not available. Full mode enables seamless TCP connection with the expense of cellular resource consumption and faster battery exhaustion while Backup mode may involve disconnection during handover with saving in cellular resource and battery. We propose Hybrid scheme which enables seamless connection while minimizing cellular resource waste and battery consumption. Simulation results show that our scheme exhibits seamless handover (on leaving Wi-Fi coverage) with similar throughput as Full mode while consuming cellular resource and battery as little as Backup mode. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, London.