Method and apparatus for bandwidth aggregation for IP flow

US8848640B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. · FR

Inventors

• Alexander Reznik · Titusville, US
• Usman Ehtesham Gul · Waterloo, CA
• Michelle Perras · Thurso, CA
• Prabhakar R. Chitrapu · Blue Bell, US
• John Cartmell · Lynbrook, US
• John L. Tomici · Southold, US
• Hao Jin · Shanghai, CN
• Bartosz Balazinski · Montréal, CA

Key dates

• Filing date: May 3, 2012
• Grant date: Sep 30, 2014
• Expiry date: Oct 15, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L45/245
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for bandwidth aggregation for an Internet protocol (IP) flow are disclosed. A sender may split IP packets on a single IP flow, and transmit the IP packets to a receiver via at least two interfaces. The sender splitting the IP packets over multiple interfaces may not send any signaling to the receiver. Alternatively, the sender may send information to the receiver for configuring distribution of the IP packets over multiple interfaces. The information may be carried on a binding update message, a binding acknowledgement message, or a binding refresh request message. The IP packets may be split and transmitted by a logical interface that sits between an IP layer and a layer 2, or by a bandwidth aggregation (BWA) middleware located between a transmission control protocol (TCP) layer and an IP layer.