An approach to path-splitting in multipath networks

It is proposed that a single connection at the transport layer be implemented as multiple source routes in the network layer, resulting in a balanced loading of network resources. The paths are not necessarily of equal length. The problem of traffic bifurcation at the source, which achieves path splitting, is solved by computing the flows on all the links in the network to minimize a given objective function, such as average delay or packet loss probability. The use of the Join-Biased Queue (JBQ) rule to effect the required traffic splitting is proposed. The superiority of the JBQ rule over other schemes is demonstrated. It is shown that the values obtained for the flows depend on the objective function being optimized. A bound on the size of the destination resequencing buffer, necessary for packets that are received out of order, is computed