Encapsulating Stateless UDP Packets for Multipath Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Stateless protocols like UDP cannot utilize the benefits of multipath transmission, such as load sharing and resiliency, due to their lack of session state information, which limits their ability to aggregate traffic across multiple paths.
Innovation Solution
Encapsulating stateless packets within an HTTP session using a transport layer protocol like MPTCP, allowing these packets to be transmitted over multiple paths and de-encapsulated at the receiving end for forwarding to their destination, thereby enabling the use of multipath benefits like traffic steering and load-balancing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If stateless protocols (UDP) are used for transmission, then simplicity and low overhead are achieved, but the ability to utilize multipath transmission benefits (load sharing, resiliency) is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent encapsulates stateless UDP packets within TCP segments, which are then transmitted over MPTCP connections. This nested structure allows the simple UDP protocol to inherit the multipath capabilities of TCP/MPTCP without modifying UDP itself. The UDP packet becomes embedded within the TCP/MPTCP protocol stack, enabling access to session state information and multipath transmission benefits while preserving UDP's original simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (TCP/MPTCP session) between the stateless UDP protocol and the multipath network infrastructure. This intermediary provides the necessary session state information and path management capabilities that UDP lacks, allowing UDP traffic to benefit from multipath transmission without requiring UDP to become stateful or complex.
2Adaptability or versatility
If MPTCP sessions are established for each stateless flow, then multipath benefits are achieved, but the number of sessions increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple stateless UDP flows into a single TCP/MPTCP session. Instead of creating separate sessions for each UDP flow, multiple UDP packets from different applications or flows can be multiplexed within the same TCP/MPTCP connection. This reduces the total number of sessions while still enabling multipath transmission benefits for all enclosed flows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes a single TCP/MPTCP session universal by allowing it to carry multiple different types of stateless flows simultaneously. The session serves multiple functions: it provides multipath capability, maintains session state, and transports diverse UDP traffic streams. This multi-functionality reduces session proliferation while achieving broad multipath coverage.
3Speed
If stateless packets are transmitted without encapsulation, then transmission speed is maintained, but traffic aggregation across multiple paths is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
By nesting UDP packets within TCP/MPTCP segments, the system enables traffic aggregation across multiple paths. The encapsulation adds minimal overhead while unlocking the ability to distribute traffic across multiple network paths, thereby improving overall productivity and bandwidth utilization without significantly impacting transmission speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A tunnel is established between a gateway and a customer premises equipment (CPE) that are connected by a plurality of concurrent communication paths. In some cases, some the communication paths operate according to different access technologies. The tunnel is associated with a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) session. The packet is encapsulated based on the HTTP session and the encapsulated packet is transmitted over the plurality of concurrent communication paths via the tunnel. Information representing the encapsulated packet is received via the tunnel between the gateway and the CPE. The encapsulated packet is de-encapsulated and a packet of a stateless flow is generated based on a payload of the de-encapsulated packet. In some cases, the stateless flow is a user datagram protocol (UDP) flow and the encapsulated packet is conveyed using a plurality of transmission control protocol (TCP) sessions associated with the plurality of concurrent communication paths.