Improving multipath reliability in topology-aware overlay networks

Use of multiple paths between node pairs can enable an overlay network to bypass Internet link failures. Selecting high quality primary and backup paths is challenging, however. To maximize communication reliability, an overlay multipath routing protocol must account for both the failure probability of a single path and link sharing among multiple paths. We propose a practical solution that exploits physical topology information and end-to-end path quality measurement results to select high quality path pairs. Simulation results show the proposed approach is effective in achieving higher multipath reliability in overlay networks at reasonable communication cost.