Transporting UDP packets over an MPTCP connection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10630813-B2
Application number	US-201615106157-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2016
Priority date	May 16, 2016
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

A Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) client and an MPTCP server for transporting User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets in plain transport mode are provided. The MPTCP client is operative to receive a request for establishing an MPTCP connection for transporting UDP packets between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server, establish the MPTCP connection, wherein information identifying one or more transport control functions are to be applied to UDP packets which are transported over the MPTCP connection is transmitted to the MPTCP server during establishing the MPTCP connection, and apply the one or more transport control functions to UDP packets. Correspondingly, the MPTCP server is operative to receive, during establishing the MPTCP connection with an MPTCP client, from the MPTCP client the information identifying one or more transport control functions, and apply the one or more transport control functions to UDP packets which are transported over the MPTCP connection.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) client for transporting User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, the MPTCP client comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions executed by the processor that cause the MPTC client operative to:
receive a request for establishing a MPTCP connection between the MPTCP client and a MPTCP server;
as a result of receiving the request for establishing the MPTCP connection, establish the MPTCP connection, establishing the MPTCP connection comprising establishing (i) a first TCP connection as a first MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server and (ii) a second TCP connection as a second MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server, wherein establishing the first TCP connection and/or the second TCP connection comprises sending toward the MPTCP server information identifying one or more transport control functions, wherein said one or more transport control functions is any one or combination of ordered transfer function, retransmission function of lost packets, flow control function, and congestion control function:
receive over a non-MPTCP connection a first UDP packet sent by a client capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP;
transform the received first UDP packet into a first TCP packet;
send over the MPTCP connection the first TCP packet toward the MPTCP server,
receive over the MPTCP connection a second TCP packet sent by the MPTCP server;
transform the received second TCP packet into a second UDP packet; and
send over the non-MPTCP connection the second UDP packet toward the client capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP, wherein the information identifying said one or more transport control functions enables the MPTCP server to apply said one or more transport control functions for the first TCP packet and/or the second TCP packet, wherein
the first TCP connection is established using a first type of network path, the second TCP connection is established using a second type of network path, and the fast type and the second type are different.

2. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , being further operative to select the one or more transport control functions based on information comprised in the request for establishing the MPTCP connection.

3. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the one or more transport control functions is transmitted as a TCP Option in a TCP SYN packet which is transmitted during establishing the first TCP connection or the second TCP connection.

4. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , wherein the request for establishing the MPTCP connection is a UDP packet sent by a UDP client.

5. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , wherein the MPTCP client is included in any one or combination of a MPTCP proxy, a mobile terminal, and a residential gateway.

6. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , being further operative to apply said one or more transport control functions for the first UDP packet and/or the second UDP packet.

7. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , wherein establishing the MPTCP connection comprises sending toward the MPTCP server a TCP SYN packet, the TCP SYN packet includes a plurality of bits, and each bit of the plurality of bits or a value of the plurality of his is assigned to one of said one or more transport control functions.

8. The MPTCP client according to claim 1 , wherein the first type of network path is one of a wired network path and a wireless network path, and the second type of network path is another one of the wired network path and the wireless network path.

9. A Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) server for transporting User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, the MPTCP server comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions executed by the processor that cause the MPTCP server operative to:
during establishing a MPTCP connection with a MPTCP client, receive information identifying one or more transport control functions, sent by the MPTCP client, wherein said one or more transport control functions is any one or combination of ordered transfer function, retransmission function of lost packets, flow control function, and congestion control function and further wherein establishing the MPTCP connection comprises establishing (i) a first TCP connection as a first MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server and (ii) a second TCP connection as a second MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server,
receive over the MPTCP connection a first TCP packet sent by the MPTCP client;

transform the received first TCP packet into a first UDP packet;
send over a non-MPTCP connection the first UDP packet toward a server capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP;
receive over the non-MPTCP connection a second UDP packet sent by the server capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP;
transform the received second UDP packet into a second TCP packet;
send over the MPTCP connection the second TCP packet toward the MPTCP client; and
apply said one or more transport control functions for the first TCP packet and/or the second TCP packet, wherein
the first TCP connection is established using a first type of network path, the second TCP connection is established using a second type of network path, and the first type and the second type are different.

10. The MPTCP server according to claim 9 , wherein the information identifying the one or more transport control functions is received as a TCP Option in a TCP SYN packet which is received during establishing the TCP connection or the second TCP connection.

11. The MPTCP server according to claim 9 , wherein the MPTCP server is included in any one or combination of a MPTCP proxy, a mobile terminal, and a residential gateway.

12. The MPTCP server according to claim 9 , wherein the first type of network path is one of a wired network path and a wireless network path, and the second type of network path is another one of the wired network path and the wireless network path.

13. A method of transporting User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, performed by a Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) client, the method comprising:
receiving a request for establishing a MPTCP connection between the MPTCP client and a MPTCP server;
as a result of receiving the request for establishing the MPTCP connection, establishing the MPTCP connection, establishing the MPTCP connection comprising establishing (i) a first TCP connection as a first MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server and (iii) a second TCP connection as a second MPTCP subflow between the MPTCP client and the MPTCP server, wherein establishing the first TCP connection and/or the second TCP connection comprises sending toward the MPTCP server information identifying one or more transport control functions, wherein said one or more transport control functions is any one or combination of ordered transfer function, retransmission function of lost packets, flow control function, and congestion control function;
receiving over a non-MPTCP connection a first UDP packet sent by a client capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP;
transforming the received first UDP packet into a first TCP packet; sending over the MPTCP connection the first TCP packet toward the MPTCP server, receiving over the MPTCP connection a second TCP packet sent by the MPTCP server; transforming the received second TCP packet into a second UDP packet; and sending over the non-MPTCP connection the second UDP packet toward the client capable of communicating via TCP and/or UDP, wherein the information id

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Skog Robert
• Ihlar Marcus
• Orre John

Classifications

• H04L67/142

  Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms · CPC title

• H04L69/161

  Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields · CPC title

• H04L69/165

  Combined use of TCP and UDP protocols; selection criteria therefor · CPC title

• H04L69/14 Primary

  Multichannel or multilink protocols · CPC title