Virtual Multipath Data Transport via UDP Tunneling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data transfer methods over long distances face challenges with increased packet losses, leading to decreased throughput and unfair resource allocation, especially when using multipath transports and virtual private networks (VPNs), as they consume more resources and can be unfair to other users on the network path.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that establishes a smaller number of first network connections and a larger number of second network connections, multiplexing data flows through these connections, and using protocols like UDP and TCP to transmit and acknowledge data portions, with delivery controllers managing unacknowledged data and retransmissions independently, ensuring fair resource usage and maintaining performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple second network connections are established to improve data transfer reliability and mitigate packet loss effects, then throughput is improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple second network connections (which use reliable-delivery protocols like TCP) into a single first network connection (using protocol like UDP) for transmission over the VPN tunnel. This combining approach allows the system to benefit from multiple parallel data streams while presenting a unified, simpler connection to the VPN infrastructure, thereby improving throughput without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The first network connection acts as an intermediary that carries multiplexed data from multiple second connections. The system establishes first connections as mediator channels that aggregate traffic from multiple second connections, simplifying the interaction with the VPN while maintaining the benefits of multiple parallel streams for improved throughput and reliability.
2Reliability
If multipath transports and VPNs are used to improve data transfer over long distances, then reliability is improved, but resource consumption increases and fairness to other network users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data transmission into two layers: multiple second connections handle data segmentation and reliable delivery individually, while the first connection aggregates these segmented streams for VPN transmission. This segmentation allows reliable delivery without requiring multiple full VPN connections, reducing overall network resource consumption while maintaining data transfer reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple second connections are merged into a single first connection for VPN transmission. This merging reduces the number of VPN connections needed from multiple to one, significantly reducing network resource consumption and improving fairness to other users while preserving the reliability benefits through the underlying multiple second connections.
3Reliability
If acknowledgments are tracked for each data portion over multiple connections to ensure reliable delivery, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first network connection serves as an intermediary that simplifies acknowledgment handling. While multiple second connections require individual acknowledgment tracking, the first connection provides a unified interface where acknowledgments can be aggregated and managed more simply, reducing the complexity of tracking while maintaining delivery reliability through the underlying multi-connection architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system splits data to be transmitted into a plurality of reliable connections which are multiplexed through a smaller number of unacknowledged connections, such as connections that do not require acknowledgment and which may be VPN tunnels. A receiver then demultiplexes data received to obtain data flows over the reliable connections and transmits separate acknowledgements for each reliable connection. The computer system demultiplexes the acknowledgments and provides them to the corresponding reliable connections, which then retransmit any unacknowledged data. Delivery controllers executing on the computer system may be coupled to corresponding controllers executing on the receiver, with traffic between the delivery controllers (payload and acknowledgments) being multiplexed over one or more unacknowledged connections. In some embodiments, acknowledgments may be transmitted over a connection that is not multiplexed over the unacknowledged connections.