Internet Engineering Task Force                                M. Scharf
Internet-Draft                                  Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs
Intended status: Informational                                   A. Ford
Expires: December 9, 2011                            Roke Manor Research
                                                            June 7, 2011


               MPTCP Application Interface Considerations
                        draft-ietf-mptcp-api-02

Abstract

   Multipath TCP (MPTCP) adds the capability of using multiple paths to
   a regular TCP session.  Even though it is designed to be totally
   backward compatible to applications, the data transport differs
   compared to regular TCP, and there are several additional degrees of
   freedom that applications may wish to exploit.  This document
   summarizes the impact that MPTCP may have on applications, such as
   changes in performance.  Furthermore, it discusses compatibility
   issues of MPTCP in combination with non-MPTCP-aware applications.
   Finally, the document describes a basic application interface for
   MPTCP-aware applications that provides access to multipath address
   information and a level of control equivalent to regular TCP.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on December 9, 2011.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents



Scharf & Ford           Expires December 9, 2011                [Page 1]

Internet-Draft                  MPTCP API                      June 2011


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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .