Controlling IP flows to bypass a packet data network gateway using multi-path transmission control protocol connections

1. A network element comprising:

a proxy element that is configured to:

receive a request from a source node to establish a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection from a first network address of the source node through a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (GW) to a destination node for an Internet Protocol (IP) flow, apply an IP flow offloading policy function to determine that the requested TCP connection for the IP flow should bypass the PDN GW, and

respond to the determination by communicating to the destination node a request for TCP connection with a second network address substituted for the first network address of the source node to establish the TCP connection for the IP flow from the source node to the destination node through a broadband network without passing through the PDN GW;

respond to the establishment of the TCP connection by intercepting packets of the IP flow passing from the source node toward the destination node that contain the first network address as the source address and to replace the first network address with the second network address as the source address to bypass the PDN GW;

respond to the determination of the IP flow offloading policy function by communicating a Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) request to the source node to establish a MPTCP subflow to the IP flow using the second network address as the source address of the source node;

communicate the MPTCP request to the source node using signaling that appears to the source node to have been generated by the destination node but which is generated by the proxy element without using signaling from the destination node.

2. The network element of claim 1 , wherein the proxy element is further configured to:

establish the MPTCP subflow with the source node before communicating to the destination node the request for TCP connection.

3. The network element of claim 1 , wherein the proxy element is further configured to:

communicate to the destination node the request for TCP connection as a single-path TCP request to the destination node using the second network address as the source address of the source node.

4. The network element of claim 1 , wherein the proxy element is further configured to:

receive the first network address of the source node as originating from the PDN GW, and

receive the second network address of the source node as originating from a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG).

5. The network element of claim 4 , wherein the proxy element is further configured to:

receive the first network address as an IPv6 address that has connection service provided by the PDN GW for a radio access network, and

receive the second network address as an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address that has connection service provided by the BNG which maps the second network address to a broadband network interface without passing through the PDN GW for the radio access network.

6. The network element of claim 1 , wherein the proxy element resides in a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG).

7. A method of offloading Internet Protocol (IP) flows from a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (GW) the method comprising; receiving a request from a source node to establish a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection from a first network address of the source node through the PDN GW to a destination node for an IP flow;

determining from an IP flow offloading policy function that the requested TCP connection for the IP flow should bypass the PDN GW; and responsive to the determination from the IP flow offloading policy function, communicating from a proxy element to the destination node a request for TCP connection with a second network address substituted for the first network address of the source node to establish the TCP connection for the IP flow from the source node to the destination node through a broadband network without passing through the PDN GW;

intercepting packets of the IP flow passing from the source node toward the destination node that contain the first network address as the source address and operating the proxy element to replace the first network address with the second network address as the source address to bypass the PDN GW; and

responsive to the determination from the IP flow offloading policy function, communicating a Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) request from the proxy element to the source node to establish a MPTCP subflow to the IP flow using the second network address as the source address of the source node;

wherein the MPTCP request is communicated to the source node using signaling that appears to the source node to have been generated by the destination node but which is generated by the proxy element without using signaling from the destination node.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

intercepting packets of the IP flow passing from the destination node toward the source node that contain the second network address as the destination address for the source node and operating the proxy element to replace the second network address with the first network address as the destination address for the source node to bypass the PDN GW.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving the first network address at the proxy element as an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address that has connection service provided by the PDN GW for a radio access network; and

receiving the second network address at the proxy element as an IPv6 address that has connection service provided by the BNG which maps the second network address to a broadband network interface without passing through the PDN GW for the radio access network.

10. A system comprising:

a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) element that is configured to respond to receipt of a first request for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection having a first network address of a source node by establishing a first TCP connection between the source node and a destination node through a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (GW) of a radio access network and a broadband network, and respond to receipt of a second request for TCP connection having a second network address of the source node by establishing a second TCP connection between the source node and the destination node through the broadband network without passing through the PDN GW; and

a proxy element that is configured to intercept the first request for TCP connection being communicated from the source node to the BNG element and to determine that it contains information that satisfies at least one rule defined by an IP flow offloading policy function, to respond to the determination by communicating a Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) request to the source node to establish a MPTCP subflow for an Internet Protocol (IP) flow using the second network address as the source address of the source node, and

generating the second request for TCP connection from the first request for TCP connection by substituting the second network address for the first network address of the source node and communicating the generated second request for TCP connection to the BNG element to establish a TCP connection between the source node and the destination node through the broadband network without passing through the PDN GW,

wherein the proxy element is further configured to communicate the MPTCP request to the source node using signaling that appears to the source node to have been generated by the destination node but which is generated by the proxy element without using signaling from the destination node.