INTELiCON: Intelligent Connectivity Framework for the Simultaneous Use of Multiple Interfaces

Widespread deployment of Wi-Fi together with 3G upgrades to cellular networks is rapidly creating areas where multiple wireless IP technologies are accessible. WiMAX will further contribute to this phenomenon. The ability to use diverse access technologies simultaneously creates opportunities to improve application service quality and reliability. In this paper, we present an intelligent connectivity framework (INTELiCON) that allows devices to exploit access diversity in new ways. INTELiCON provides a modular, flexible platform for discovering, selecting, executing and evaluating the most appropriate connectivity strategies. The framework executes connectivity strategies and evaluates their effectiveness while maintaining transparency to the application layer. Furthermore INTELiCON can also dynamically implement new strategies to meet variations in network conditions or application requirements. We present the architectural characteristics of the INTELiCON framework with details of a prototype implementation and show how the framework exploits access diversity to support high-quality streaming video despite limited resources and unreliable links.