Multi-Session Secure Tunnel Bandwidth Utilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
The performance of secure tunnels, such as those established using the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), is limited by the underlying network connection's bandwidth utilization, leading to underutilization of network capabilities, particularly in scenarios with high latency and packet loss.
Innovation Solution
Establishing multiple sessions over a single secure tunnel allows for improved throughput by utilizing available bandwidth more effectively, with the additional sessions being transparent to applications and protocols, and employing techniques like crypto-binding for secure association and authentication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single secure tunnel session is established over a public network, then security is maintained through encryption, but network bandwidth utilization is limited and performance is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments a single secure tunnel into multiple independent sessions (first session, second session, third session, etc.) that operate in parallel over the same encrypted tunnel. Each session can independently utilize network bandwidth, thereby increasing overall bandwidth utilization while maintaining the security benefits of the encrypted tunnel. The segmentation allows concurrent data transmission across multiple sessions without compromising the security of the underlying tunnel.
2Productivity
If multiple sessions are established over a secure tunnel, then bandwidth utilization and throughput are improved, but session management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (session manager or control plane) that handles the complexity of managing multiple sessions. This intermediary establishes, maintains, and coordinates multiple sessions over the secure tunnel, abstracting the complexity from individual data transmission processes. The intermediary ensures proper session association, authentication, and resource allocation, thereby enabling high throughput without requiring complex management at every session level.
3Productivity
If multiple sessions are used to increase throughput, then network performance is improved, but authentication and security association overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary authentication and security association establishment during the initial tunnel setup phase. Once authenticated, the system pre-establishes multiple sessions with their security parameters configured in advance. This preliminary action eliminates the need for repeated authentication handshakes for each additional session, thereby reducing authentication overhead and time loss while maintaining high network performance across multiple concurrent sessions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of communicating data over a network is provided. A secure tunnel may be implemented through the network between two computers. Performance limitations of the secure tunnel with a single session can be alleviated by establishing multiple sessions for the tunnel.