Receive Buffer based Path Management for MPTCP in heterogeneous networks

Abstract

Multipath Transport Control Protocol (MPTCP) is a promising solution to support simultaneous transmission of packets through multiple paths. With bounded receive buffer and heterogeneous networks, MPTCP could suffer from degradation of its performances, undermining the advantage from multiple path transmission. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective method to manage the multiple paths of MPTCP, called Receive Buffer based Path Management (RBPM), which operates based on the available receive buffer size and dissimilar characteristics of multiple paths. The RBPM scheme estimates out-of-ordered packets, predicts the buffer blocking problem in advance and stops transferring over bad performance paths. We implement RBPM in the Linux kernel and evaluate its performances over a virtual network environment using NS-3 Direct Code Execution. The results show that the proposed scheme significantly improves the throughput and network utilization with bounded receive buffer in heterogeneous networks.