Enhancing performance of multi-path communications
Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are disclosed for enhancing performance of multi-path communications. Multi-path communication performance may be enhanced by determining whether multi-path communications share a congested router. A multi-path real-time communication protocol may provide techniques to prevent, detect, communicate and respond to a shared congested router. A shared congested router may be prevented, and/or detected using one or more detection techniques.
1. A controller for a multi-path mobile communication flow, the controller comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive Internet Protocol (IP) flow association information, wherein the IP flow association information indicates a first sub-flow associated with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) of the multi-path mobile communication flow, and a second sub-flow associated with a second RAT of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
determine if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router;
modify a routing table for the multi-path mobile communication flow so that the first sub-flow uses a different router than the second sub-flow based on the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow sharing the router; and
send the modified routing table to at least one router upstream from the routers.
2. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the IP flow association includes at least one of a source IP address, a source port number, a destination IP address, a destination port number, and a protocol number.
3. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the IP flow association is an IP-5 tuple.
4. The controller of claim 1 , wherein processor is configured to receive information about a router's current state.
5. The controller of claim 4 , wherein the router's current state is congested or not congested.
6. The controller of claim 1 , wherein processor is configured to determine if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router by determining a queuing delay variation between packets obtained through the first sub-flow and packets obtained through the second sub-flow.
7. A method for a multi-path mobile communication flow, the method comprising:
receiving Internet Protocol (IP) flow association information, wherein the IP flow association information indicates a first sub-flow associated with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) of the multi-path mobile communication flow, and a second sub-flow associated with a second RAT of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
determining if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router;
modifying a routing table for the multi-path mobile communication flow so that the first sub-flow uses a different router than the second sub-flow based on the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow sharing the router; and
sending the modified routing table to at least one router upstream from the routers.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the IP flow association includes at least one of a source IP address, a source port number, a destination IP address, a destination port number, and a protocol number.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the IP flow association is an IP-5 tuple.
10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving information about a router's current state.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the router's current state is congested or not congested.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router includes determining a queuing delay variation between packets obtained through the first sub-flow and packets obtained through the second sub-flow.
13. A controller for a multi-path mobile communication flow, the controller comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive Internet Protocol (IP) flow association information, wherein the IP flow association information indicates a first sub-flow associated with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) of the multi-path mobile communication flow, and a second sub-flow associated with a second RAT of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
determine if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router; and
cause an information bit to be set in a reverse flow associated with the multi-path mobile communication flow based on the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow sharing the router.
14. The controller of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to create a rule for at least one router of the multi-path mobile communication flow so that an information bit is set in at least one sub-flow.
15. The controller of claim 14 , wherein the information bit is set in an IP options field of a data packet.
16. The controller of claim 14 , wherein the information bit is set in an extension section of a Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) report.
17. The controller of claim 14 , wherein the information bit is set in an options field of a transmission control protocol (TCP) header.
18. The controller of claim 13 , wherein the information bit is caused to be set in the reverse flow.
19. The controller of claim 13 , wherein processor is configured to determine if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router by determining a queuing delay variation between packets obtained through the first sub-flow and packets obtained through the second sub-flow.
20. A method for a multi-path mobile communication flow, the method comprising:
receiving Internet Protocol (IP) flow association information, wherein the IP flow association information indicates a first sub-flow associated with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) of the multi-path mobile communication flow, and a second sub-flow associated with a second RAT of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
determining if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router; and
causing an information bit to be set in a reverse flow associated with the multi-path mobile communication flow based on the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow sharing the router.
21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising creating a rule for at least one router of the multi-path mobile communication flow so that an information bit is set in at least one sub-flow.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the information bit is set in an IP options field of a data packet.
23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the information bit is set in an extension section of a Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) report.
24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the information bit is set in an options field of a transmission control protocol (TCP) header.
25. The method of claim 20 , wherein the information bit is caused to be set in the reverse flow.
26. The method of claim 20 , wherein determining if the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow share a router includes determining a queuing delay variation between packets obtained through the first sub-flow and packets obtained through the second sub-flow.
27. A method for detecting a shared congested router in a multi-path mobile communication flow, the method comprising:
detecting a queuing delay for a first sub-flow associated with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
detecting a queuing delay for a second sub-flow associated with a second RAT of the multi-path mobile communication flow;
determining a queuing delay variation between the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow; and
using the queuing delay variation, inferring the presence or absence of a shared congested router in a multi-path mobile communication flow.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the queuing delay variation is a time aligned queuing delay variation.
29. The method of claim 27 , further comprising using the end-to-end delay of a packet to determine queuing delay variation of the first sub-flow or the second sub-flow.
30. The method of claim 27 , wherein a receiver of the first sub-flow and the second sub-flow performs the detection of a queuing delay variation.
31. The method of claim 27 , wherein the receiver notifies a sender about the presence or absence of a shared congested router.