Uni-MPTCP(ω ,n): a Unified MPTCP Congestion Control Algorithm

A fundamental design principle of MultiPath TCP (MPTCP) congestion control algorithm (CCA) is that an MPTCP flow should be fair to and do not harm TCP flows. Unfortunately, to deal with cost heterogeneity among subflow interfaces, the existing cost-aware MPTCP CCAs often violate this design principle in an attempt to minimize the cost. Based on the network utility maximization (NUM) framework, we put forward UniMPTCP($\vec \omega $,n), a NUM-optimal, Unified MPTCP CCA with n subflow paths and a n-dimension weight vector $\vec \omega $ with n −1 independent elements. Uni-MPTCP($\vec \omega $,n) abides by this design principle for arbitrary $\vec \omega $ and can be customized to achieve specific cost design objectives with proper adaptation of $\vec \omega $. As such, UniMPTCP($\vec \omega $,n) provides a unified solution to enable cost-aware MPTCP CCAs, while adhering to the design principle. Finally, we put forward an adaptation algorithm for, ω, in Uni-MPTCP(ω,2), aiming at maintaining a target MPTCP flow rate with minimum cost for a cost-heterogeneity case with dual connectivity. The test results based on NS-3 simulation demonstrate that UniMPTCP(ω,2) can indeed effectively keep track of a given flow rate target with minimum cost, while adhering to the design principle.