Experimental Assessment of a Cross-Layer Solution for TCP/IP Traffic Optimization on Heterogeneous Personal Networking Environments

Future wireless communication scenarios will be characterized by the heterogeneity in terms of coexisting wireless access technologies. Many mobile terminals will support different air interfaces and in order to provide true multi-mode operation, the sole use of IP protocol is not enough. We present in this document the Universal Convergence Layer that residing on top of the different air interfaces offers a single interface to IP while supporting the cross-layer optimization of user data flows as well as many other key functionalities in personal networks communications. This document describes and discusses the implementation of this framework over real platforms. Furthermore, the results of the measurement campaign carried out to assess the benefits introduced by the dynamic interface selection mechanism implemented at the UCL will be also presented. The results obtained will allow us to extract conclusions about the appropriateness of the solution adopted.