System and method for mobility with a split home agent architecture using MPTCP

A method implemented in a network element in a wide area network, the network element functioning as a virtual home agent (VHA) for a mobile node (MN) communicating with a corresponding node (CN) using Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (MIPv6), the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving a flow switch request (FSR) message from a home agent (HA) including transmission control protocol (TCP) parameters for a session between the MN and (CN), the FSR message including a care-of address of the MN and an address of the CN;
• initiating a flow redirection using multi-path TCP (MPTCP) exchange with the CN to establish a flow between the MN and CN that passes through the VHA;
• sending a flow switch acknowledgement (FSA) message to the HA upon establishment of the flow;
• receiving data packets of the flow at the VHA from the CN;
• translating the data packets using network address translations NAT66 and the care-of address of the MN;
• and
• tunneling the data packets to the MN using bi-directional tunneling (BT) mode,
• whereby the MN receives a better quality of service when communicating with the CN through the VHA than through the HA.

A network element configured to function as a home agent (HA), the network element configured to communicate with a mobile node (MN), a corresponding node (CN) and a plurality of virtual home agents (VHAs) over a wide area network, the network element comprising:

• an egress module configured to receive data packets over the network;
• an ingress module configured to transport the data packets over the network;
• and
• a network processor communicatively coupled to the ingress module and egress module, the network processor configured to execute a network mobility management module, a binding management module and a virtual home agent module,
• the network mobility management module configured to manage a communication session between the mobile node and the corresponding node,
• the binding management module communicatively coupled to the network mobility management module, the binding management module configured to maintain a binding table including a set of binding entries, each binding entry including a correlated care-of address for the MN, an address of the HA, an address of the CN and an address of the VHA, the binding management module configured to create and update the set of binding entries,
• the virtual home agent management module configured to select a VHA from the plurality of VHAs to provide a home agent service to the MN, the selection based on pre-defined policies, the virtual home agent management module to send a flow switch request (FSR) message to the selected VHA, the FSR message including transmission control protocol (TCP) parameters of a session between the MN and the CN, the FSR message to cause the selected VHA to establish a flow between the MN and CN that passes through the selected VHA using multi-path TCP (MPTCP) exchange, the virtual home agent management module to receive a flow switch acknowledgement (FSA) message from the selected VHA,
• whereby the MN receives a better quality of service when communicating with the CN through the selected VHA than through the HA.

A network element configured to function as a virtual home agent (VHA), the network element in communication with a mobile node (MN), a corresponding node (CN) and a home agent (HA) over a wide area network, the network element comprising:

• an ingress module configured to receive data packets over the network;
• an ingress module configured to transport the data packets over the network;
• and
• a network processor communicatively coupled to the ingress module and egress module, the network processor configured to execute a network mobility management module, a binding management module and a virtual home agent module,
• the network mobility management module configured to manage a communication session between the MN and the CN,
• the binding management module communicatively coupled to the network mobility management module, the binding management module configured to maintain a binding table including a set of binding entries, each binding entry including a correlated care-of address for the MN, an address of the HA, an address of the CN and an address of the VHA, the binding management module configured to create and update the set of binding entries,
• a virtual home agent module to provide a home agent service to the MN, the virtual home agent module to receive a flow switch request (FSR) message from the HA including TCP parameters of a multi-path TCP (MPTCP) session between the MN and CN, a care-of address of the MN, and an address for the CN, the virtual home agent module configured to use multi-path TCP exchange to establish a flow from the CN to the MN that passes through the VHA, to send a flow switch acknowledgement (FSA) message to the HA and to tunnel data traffic from the CN to the MN,
• whereby the MN receives a better quality of service when communicating with the CN through the selected VHA than through the HA.