File formats:

Status:

INFORMATIONAL

Authors:

A. Ford
C. Raiciu
M. Handley
S. Barre
J. Iyengar

Stream:

IETF

Source:

mptcp (tsv)

Cite this RFC: TXT  |  XML  |   BibTeX

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC6182

Discuss this RFC: Send questions or comments to the mailing list multipathtcp@ietf.org

Other actions: Submit Errata  |  Find IPR Disclosures from the IETF  |  View History of RFC 6182

Abstract

Hosts are often connected by multiple paths, but TCP restricts communications to a single path per transport connection. Resource usage within the network would be more efficient were these multiple paths able to be used concurrently. This should enhance user experience through improved resilience to network failure and higher throughput.

This document outlines architectural guidelines for the development of a Multipath Transport Protocol, with references to how these architectural components come together in the development of a Multipath TCP (MPTCP). This document lists certain high-level design decisions that provide foundations for the design of the MPTCP protocol, based upon these architectural requirements. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.

For the definition of Status, see RFC 2026.

For the definition of Stream, see RFC 8729.