Optimizing network performance with multihoming and network coding

The evolution of wireless access technologies, the increasing demand of users and services, and the evolution of terminals (which have the ability to connect to different access technologies), strengthened the need to use all the available resources in an optimal way. This paper presents a new approach that uses the combination of multihoming and network coding to improve the allocation of network resources and the communication performance in heterogeneous technologies. We developed a model to determine the optimal allocation of traffic flows through different paths in a multihoming environment with network coding. Then, considering different technologies (Wi-Fi and HSDPA as examples), we modelled the system performance and analyzed the best configuration for both multihoming and network coding, as a function of the user, services and network characteristics. The results, obtained both through analytical and real experiments, show the advantages of multihoming, how it shall be configured in an optimal way, and the impact of network coding and its parameters in the network performance.