An Intelligent Combination of WiFi and Mobile Data Simultaneously for Better Internet Speed

Traditional Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) has long been the major transport layer protocol of data transmission over a single network link. Modern applications need higher bandwidth requirements, which must be achieved using multiple simultaneous connections rather than one single link. Multipath TCP (MPTCP) protocol is the perfect candidate for that kind of application. Therefore, this work introduces the development of a multipath TCP (MPTCP) based router, which gives a higher bandwidth experience to the user by combining the speed of two or more access links.

However, using this method, we observe a downgrading of bandwidth in congested traffic periods. This triggers our motivation to study the underlying scheduler design of the MPCTP kernel and design a novel scheduler algorithm named Redundante at Congestion (RaC) using Programmable MultiPath (ProgMP) kernel. It can distribute segments by looking at the congestion window of each subflow to adapt to the network’s dynamic behavior. The novel design has focused on fine-tuning the process of segment distribution through the proposed algorithm RaC, and it has improved performance in transmission latency and bandwidth compared to existing schedulers.

Key Words: MPTCP, ProgMP, Scheduler, Low Latency, High Bandwidth, Wi-Fi, LTE

In previous releases of the third-generation partnership project (3GPP) long-term evo- lution (LTE) standard, the best link would be chosen for transmitting data, whether through wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) or LTE connection. However, with the LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) feature in LTE Release-14, the packet data convergence control (PDCP) layer in the LTE software stack can now transparently handle the aggregation of Wi-Fi and LTE traffic. The PDCP layer decides how packets should be transmit- ted to the mobile device using either LTE or Wi-Fi. On the mobile side, the PDCP reorders the packets to be transmitted back to the internet protocol (IP) stack in the correct order. This feature is controlled by the base station. In Release-14, LWA only supports downlink aggregation for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. enhanced LWA (eLWA) was introduced in Release-15, adding support for 60 GHz Wi-Fi (WiGig) and uplink aggregation. However, the aggregation of multiple radio technologies is not fully supported. To address this issue, 3GPP Release-16 proposed the use of multipath- transmission control protocol (MPTCP) at the fourth layer of the TCP/IP stack and the introduction of the access traffic steering, switching, and splitting (ATSSS) layer in the mobile device, which defines rules for aggregation across various radio tech- nologies. Additionally, a method known as VPN bonding in the Linux environment connects several VPN connections, frequently at the application layer, to improve network traffic speed, stability, or load balancing while maintaining security and en- cryption.

The goal of this project is to design a system that intelligently combines WiFi and mobile data connections in order to achieve improved internet speeds considering technologies like LWA, MPTCP and VPN Bonding. The system will analyze the quality and availability of both connections in real time and determine the optimal combination of the two connections to use at any given moment. The system will also consider the cost and data usage of each connection in order to make cost-effective decisions. The system will be implemented as a router that can be used with devices such as smartphones and laptops. By intelligently combining WiFi and mobile data connections, the system will help users achieve faster and more reliable internet access, leading to an enhanced user experience.

Project Contacts: geeth@eie.ruh.ac.lk, eg183298@engug.ruh.ac.lk, eg183402@engug.ruh.ac.lk, eg183397@engug.ruh.ac.lk