Multilink System with Available Bandwidth Estimation in Nomadic Network Environment

Takaaki MORIYA
Hiroyuki OHNISHI
Takeshi OGAWA
Tadashi ITO
Miki HIRANO

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications   Vol.E90-B    No.11    pp.3133-3145
Publication Date: 2007/11/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1345
DOI: 10.1093/ietcom/e90-b.11.3133
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: PAPER
Category: Network
Keyword: 
multilink,  wireless LAN,  TCP performance,  available bandwidth,  nomadic environment,  

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Summary: 
With the spread of broadband and wireless Internet access, there is a growing need for a nomadic network environment that enables the use of network services anywhere, via various access media. In a nomadic network environment, however, the connectivity is decreased because users move among different access networks, and the bandwidth is narrow and fluctuating, especially for radio propagation in wireless networks. To solve these problems, we propose a multilink system with three key functions: IPinIP tunneling, dynamic distribution of packets, and reordering of distributed packets. In particular, our distribution function includes a novel algorithm based on available bandwidth estimation. A prototype of our system was evaluated through experiments using real wireless environments and its efficiency is discussed.