Transparent Proxy Architecture for Multi-Path Data Connections

Abstract

A method for implementing a transparent concurrent multiple-network communication which maintains end-to-end Internet protocol (IP) semantics and compatibility includes the steps of: providing a proxy architecture between a client device and a corresponding server device utilizing the multiple-network communication; intercepting, by the proxy architecture, communications between the client device and the server device to obtain information relating to an interaction between the client and server devices in a manner which is transparent to the client and server devices; and controlling the interaction between the client and server devices by the proxy architecture as a function of the obtained information relating to the interaction between the client and server devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for implementing a transparent concurrent multiple-network communication which maintains end-to-end Internet protocol (IP) semantics and compatibility, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a proxy architecture between a client device and a corresponding server device utilizing the multiple-network communication;   intercepting, by the proxy architecture, communications between the client device and the server device to obtain information relating to an interaction between the client and server devices in a manner which is transparent to the client and server devices; and   controlling the interaction between the client and server devices by the proxy architecture as a function of the obtained information relating to the interaction between the client and server devices.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling the interaction between the client and server devices comprises implementing a signaling protocol by the proxy architecture for providing control between client and server endpoints. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the signaling protocol is implemented using at least one separate channel established between the client device and the proxy architecture and between the server device and the proxy architecture. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the signaling protocol is implemented by inserting signaling data on a payload portion of one or more messages transmitted between the client and server devices. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling the interaction between the client and server devices is performed as a function of real-time analytics reporting relating to the client and server devices. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising concatenating a plurality of individual data frames from at least one of one or more intercepted TCP connections and one or more intercepted User Datagram Protocol (UDP) connections to thereby generate a concatenated data frame which is larger in size relative to any one of the plurality of individual data frames. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of intercepting communications between the client device and the server device comprises, when an application running on an operating system opens at least one of a TCP socket and a UDP socket, transparently mapping a socket call on the operating system to the socket for a replacement multi-link transport protocol implemented by the proxy between client and server endpoints. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of intercepting communications between the client device and the server device comprises, when an application running on an operating system makes at least one socket call, at least one of:
 redirecting the at least one socket call within a network stack; and   intercepting the at least one socket call within the network stack and redirecting the socket call to a local process that accepts the connection and forwards traffic to an intended endpoint over the multiple-network communication.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising applying at least one of selective compression, transcoding and resampling to at least a portion of data traffic transmitted between client and server endpoints. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting a first instance that a data object has been transmitted, and transmitting, thereafter, only incremental changes associated with the object. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of transmitting incremental changes associated with the object comprises maintaining, at each endpoint in the multiple-network communication, an object store, such that when a connection is intercepted, each object of a prescribed size transmitted as part of the connection is assigned a unique identification and is placed in the object store. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for implementing a transparent concurrent multiple-network communication which maintains end-to-end Internet protocol (IP) semantics and compatibility, the apparatus comprising:
 memory;   at least one processor connected with the memory; and   a non-transient persistent storage medium that contains instructions which, when loaded into said memory, configure said at least one processor: (i) to provide a proxy architecture between a client device and a corresponding server device utilizing the multiple-network communication; (ii) to intercept, by the proxy architecture, communications between the client device and the server device to obtain information relating to an interaction between the client and server devices in a manner which is transparent to the client and server devices;   and (iii) to control the interaction between the client and server devices by the proxy architecture as a function of the obtained information relating to the interaction between the client and server devices.