Method of managing an MPTCP connection and network device

1. A method of managing a multipath TCP (MPTCP) connection, the method comprising:

establishing the MPTCP connection as a logical connection between end-points that utilize multiple network paths with one TCP subflow per network path by:

sending a first connection request from a client terminal to a first server,

utilizing a first IP address of the client terminal for establishing, via a first interface of the client terminal, a first subflow between the client terminal and the first server,

determining, by the first server, a second server, and

establishing, by the first server, a subflow control connection with the second server,

wherein at least two subflows of the MPTCP connection are terminated at different end-points.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the different end-points are linked with a specific application.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein content on each of the different end-points and related to the specific application the different end-points are linked with is identical.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the different end-points are kept in synchronization with each other.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a subflow control connection is established between the different end-points.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the subflow control connection carries at least one of MPTCP stack state information on send buffer and window sizes and application state information on a current file pointer of an application data stream.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein at least one of token handling, flow control, and user data offsets are controlled and/or regulated via the subflow control connection.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein one of the different end-points continues the MPTCP connection and the other of the different end-points terminates the MPTCP connection if the control connection between said different end-points breaks down.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

announcing a second IP address of the client terminal to the second server, and

advertising an IP address of the second server to the client terminal for establishing, via a second interface of the client terminal, a second subflow to the second server.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a server close to the second IP address of the client terminal is determined as the second server.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the client terminal includes an MPTCP proxy on a Customer-Premises Equipment (CPE) or wherein the client terminal uses a standard MPTCP aware networking stack.

12. A network device configured to act as an end-point in a multipath TCP (MPTCP) connection, wherein the MPTCP connection is established as a logical connection between end-points that utilize multiple network paths with one TCP subflow per network path, the network device comprising:

a distributed MPTCP stack; and

a synchronizer for keeping a state of the distributed MPTCP stack synchronized with a state of a distributed MPTCP stack of at least one other endpoint of the MPTCP connection,

wherein the network device is configured to receive a first connection request from a client terminal, utilize a first IP address of the client terminal to establish, via a first interface of the client terminal, a first subflow connection with the client terminal, determine a second server, and establish a subflow control connection with the second server.

13. The network device according to claim 12 , wherein the second server is an endpoint of the MPTCP connection.

14. A method of managing a multipath TCP (MPTCP) connection, the method comprising:

establishing the MPTCP connection as a logical connection between end-points that utilize multiple network paths with one TCP subflow per network path, wherein at least two subflows of the MPTCP connection are terminated at different end-points;

establishing a subflow control connection between the different end-points; and

in response to the subflow control connection between the different end-points breaking down, continuing, by one of the different end-points, the MPTCP connection and terminating, by a second of the different end-points, the MPTCP connection.