Design and evaluation of dynamic policy-based flow redirection for multihomed mobile networks

This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a solution for dynamic redirection of traffic flows for multihomed mobile networks. The solution was developed for a mobile user that disposes of a Personal Area Network (PAN) with a Personal Mobile Router (PMR), in order to achieve Always Best Connected (ABC) service by distributing flows belonging to different applications among the most appropriate access networks. Designed in a modular way for a NEMO-based mobility and multihoming support, the proposed flow redirection solution can be easily coupled with and controlled by dynamic traffic policies that come from advanced network intelligence, according to the currently available network resources and user and application requirements. A prototype implementation was validated and assessed on a testbed as proof-of-concept.