DAPS: Intelligent delay-aware packet scheduling for multipath transport

The increasing heterogeneity and asymmetry in wireless network environments makes QoS guarantees in terms of delays and throughput a challenging task. In this paper, we study a novel scheduling algorithm for multipath transport called Delay Aware Packet Scheduling (DAPS) which aims to reduce the receiver´s buffer blocking time considered as a main parameter to enhance the QoS in wireless environments. We develop an analytical model of maximum receiver´s buffer blocking time and extend the DAPS algorithm considering implementation issues. Performance evaluations based on ns-2 simulations highlight the enhanced QoS that DAPS can provide. With reference to the classical multipath transport protocol CMT-SCTP, we observe a significant reductions of the receiver´s buffer occupancy, down by 77%, and the application delay, down by 63%.