More Than The Sum Of Its Parts: Exploiting Cross-Layer and Joint-Flow Information in MPTCP

TL;DR

This paper shows that leveraging cross-layer and joint-flow information in MPTCP can significantly improve performance, highlighting the importance of holistic optimization over separate subflows.

Contribution

It introduces the idea of joint optimization and cross-layer information use in MPTCP scheduling, demonstrating potential performance improvements.

Findings

Exploiting cross-layer info enhances MPTCP performance

Joint-flow optimization can outperform traditional scheduling

Results suggest a need for holistic MPTCP management

Abstract

Multipath TCP (MPTCP) is an extension to TCP which aggregates multiple parallel connections over available network interfaces. MPTCP bases its scheduling decisions on the individual RTT values observed at the subflows, but does not attempt to perform any kind of joint optimization over the subflows. Using the MPTCP scheduler as an example, in this paper we demonstrate that exploiting cross-layer information and optimizing scheduling decisions jointly over the multiple flows, can lead to significant performance gains. While our results only represent a single data point, they illustrate the need to look at MPTCP from a more holistic point of view and not treat the connections separately, as is currently being done. We call for new approaches and research into how multiple parallel connections offered by MPTCP should be used in an efficient and fair manner.