Systems and methods for multi-path communication over multiple radio access technologies

1. A device comprising:

a memory having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and

a processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to identify a plurality of communication paths for data transmission of a data service between the device and a network gateway, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to,

identify the plurality of communication paths by

transmitting a message to at least one intermediate network node via a first communication path to add an interface for the data service, the first communication path being associated with a first radio access technology, the message being a first add interface message for the at least one intermediate network node to forward the first add interface message to the network gateway over a default communication path associated with the at least one intermediate network node, the first add interface message identifying the default communication path for the network gateway,

receiving an identification message from the at least one intermediate network node identifying one or more communication paths available to the at least one intermediate network node, the one or more communication paths including a second communication path of the plurality of communication paths, the second communication path being associated with a second radio access technology, and the first communication path and the one or more communication paths forming the plurality of communication paths to be used simultaneously for the data service, the identification message identifying at least one additional communication path associated with the at least one intermediate network node, and

transmitting a second add interface message to the at least one intermediate network node for the at least one intermediate network node to forward the second add interface message to the network gateway, the second add interface message identifying the at least one additional communication path for the network gateway; and

set a first fraction of a traffic flow for the first communication path and a second fraction of the traffic flow for the second communication path, the first fraction and the second fraction being set based upon at least one of,

bandwidth of the first communication path and the second communication path, or

packet delay reports for the first communication path and the second communication path,

the device being simultaneously in transmission with the network gateway via at least one base station, including splitting the traffic flow into the first fraction transmitted over the first communication path of the plurality of communication paths and the second fraction simultaneously transmitted over the second communication path of the plurality of communication paths.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the data transmission is associated with a single data service for the device.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to broadcast the message during a dynamic host configuration process upon activation of the device.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to establish a data transmission session by,

transmitting an add interface message to the network gateway identifying for the network gateway, the one or more identified communication paths of the plurality of communication paths,

at least one of receiving during a downlink transmission, and transmitting during an uplink transmission, data packets each including a different portion of data associated with the data transmission session over each of the plurality of communication paths.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein during the downlink transmission of the data packets, the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to,

aggregate the data packets to reconstruct the data, and

decompress protocol headers in the data, the protocol headers having been compressed at the network gateway prior to transmission over the plurality of communication paths to the device, wherein compression and decompression of the protocol headers in the data packets are based on Robust Header Compression.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein during the uplink transmission of the data packets, the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to compress protocol headers in the data packets to be transmitted to the network gateway, the protocol headers being decompressed at the network gateway upon receipt, wherein compression and decompression of the protocol headers in the data packets are based on Robust Header Compression.

7. The device of claim 4 , wherein the add interface message is transmitted to the network gateway via the at least one intermediate network node and a corresponding base station associated with one of at least two different radio access technologies.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein

the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to establish data communication between the device and the network gateway via the first communication path associated with the device, prior to transmitting the first add interface message.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to establish a data transmission session by,

at least one of receiving during a downlink transmission, and transmitting during an uplink transmission, data packets each including a different portion of data associated with the data transmission session over each of the plurality of communication paths.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein during the downlink transmission of the data packets, the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to,

aggregate the received data packets to reconstruct the data, and

decompress protocol headers in the data, the protocol headers having been compressed at the network gateway prior to transmission over the plurality of communication paths to the device, wherein compression and decompression of the protocol headers in the data packets are based on Robust Header Compression.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein during the uplink transmission of the data packets, the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to compress protocol headers in the data packets to be transmitted to the network gateway, the protocol headers being decompressed at the network gateway upon receipt, wherein compression and decompression of the protocol headers in the data packets are based on Robust Header Compression.

12. The device of claim 1 ,

wherein the transmitting a message to at least one intermediate network node includes broadcasting at least one discovery message, and

wherein the receiving an identification message from the at least one intermediate network node includes receiving at least one response to the at least one discovery message with information about available communication paths, the at least one of the plurality of communication paths being a dedicated communication path associated with the device.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein

at least the first communication path is associated with a first technology according to which the device communicates with the network gateway, and

at least the second communication path is associated with a second technology according to which the device communicates with the network gateway.

14. A device comprising:

a memory having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and

a processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to

establish a plurality of communication paths to be used simultaneously for data transmission of a data service between a user equipment (UE) and a network gateway, by

receiving a message via a first communication path to add an interface for the data service, the message being a first add interface message identifying a default communication path for the network gateway,

transmitting an identification message identifying one or more communication paths available to the device and to be used simultaneously with the first communication path for the data service, the one or more communication paths including a second communication path, and the first communication path and the one or more communication paths forming the plurality of communication paths, the identification message identifying at least one additional communication path, and

receiving a second add interface message identifying the at least one additional communication path for the network gateway; and

set a first fraction of a traffic flow for the first communication path and a second fraction of the traffic flow for the second communication path, the first fraction and the second fraction being set based upon at least one of,

bandwidth of the first communication path and the second communication path, or

packet delay reports for the first communication path and the second communication path,

the UE being simultaneously in transmission with the network gateway via at least one base station over the plurality of communication paths, including splitting the traffic flow into the first fraction transmitted over the first communication path of the plurality of communication paths and the second fraction simultaneously transmitted over the second communication path of the plurality of communication paths.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to,

receive a request message from the UE, the request message being a request by the UE to establish a communication path to the network gateway via the device,

create a number of copies of the request message, the number of copies corresponding to a number of communication paths available between the device and the network gateway, each of the copies being a modified version of the request message having an IP address of one of the number of communication paths, and

transmitting each of the number of copies to the network gateway in order to establish the plurality of communication paths for the data transmission between the UE and the network gateway.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to establish a data transmission session by,

receiving different portions of data via each of the plurality of communication paths from the network gateway, each different portion having been compressed at the network gateway,

aggregating the different portions of the data, and

transmitting aggregated portions to the UE.

17. The device of claim 14 , wherein

the UE is configured to operate according to one radio access technology, and

the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to,

receive a data packet from the UE,

transmit a number of add interface messages to the network gateway, the number of add interface messages corresponding to a number of the plurality of communication paths between the device and the network gateway, and

establish the plurality of communication paths upon reception of the number of add interface messages by the network gateway.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to establish a data transmission session by,

receiving a different portion of the data via each of the plurality of communication paths,

performing data packet aggregation on the received different portions to reconstruct the data, and

transmitting the reconstructed data to the UE.