Multipath TCP for V2I communication in SDN controlled small cell deployment of smart city.

Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) connectivity enables a variety of safety, infotainment, and mobility applications in smart cities. However, these applications require “always best and seamless connectivity”, which constitutes a key challenge in the context of available radio access and core network technologies. Multipath TCP (MPTCP) in multi-radio access technologies can be an emerging solution to meet the requirements of TCP-based services. Since MPTCP enables a vehicle to use multiple network interfaces and IP paths simultaneously, MPTCP seems a better option than legacy TCP in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). Software Defined Networking (SDN) with its unique features such as its centralized control, programmability, and flexibility, can be beneficial for mobility management and performance requirements for vehicular communication. Although studies exist, that explore the performance of MPTCP and SDN separately for V2I context, a combination of these two are unexplored. In this article, we evaluate the performance of MPTCP for V2I connectivity in SDN controlled small cells of DSRC and Wi-Fi using the Mininet-WiFi emulator. Our experimental study reveals that issues related to Layer-2 handover in Wi-Fi and flow installation by the SDN controller play a key role. If these two issues can be handled wisely in SDN, MPTCP can offer benefits to V2I connectivity in small cells, such as Wi-Fi and DSRC. We also propose an approach for rule installation to V2I connectivity in the software-defined vehicular network.