SCTP : Solution for Transport Layer Mobility and Multihoming

Numerous protocols were introduced in the transport layer, which can be very different depending on the provided services. Beside the traditional TCP and UDP, new transport protocols (SCTP, DCCP) have appeared in recent years to overcome limitations of the conventional protocols. The unique features of SCTP like multihoming and multistreaming make this protocol very attractive for reliable data delivery of streams, even in a mobile environment. It can be also used for applications where monitoring and detection of loss is required. SCTP is the only transport protocol that is able to manage mobility issues and handle handovers in the transport layer. The multihoming feature allows an endpoint of a SCTP association to be mapped to multiple IP addresses, and change the delivery path according to the link conditions. The handover process is hardly influenced by several protocol parameters that can be adjusted by the user. The effects of different protocol settings are investigated in details in this chapter. We have studied the performance of multihomed SCTP hosts through experimental studies in an integrated heterogeneous environment. SCTP will also play a significant role in future LTE–EPS architecture, because it can also be used for core network signaling purposes, not just for user data delivery.