An AggreGATE Network Abstraction for Mobile Devices

Mobile devices, as a norm, are equipped with multiple network interfaces, viz. cellular, Wi-Fi and bluetooth, with Wi-Max networks on the horizon. These network interfaces have diverse as well as dynamic characteristics in terms of range, bandwidth and power [3]. Our measurement data of connectivity characteristics of WiFi and cellular networks, along with other recently reported research [1, 4] lead us to make the following observations: (1) There is an interesting fraction of times when the throughputs of these interfaces are comparable and aggregating them would achieve a sizeable speed-up as well as significant increase in absolute throughput, (2) Wi-Fi coverage is spotty and applications would benefit from seamless shifting between Wi-Fi and the more ubiquitous cellular connectivity, and (3) EDGE and even 3G speeds are likely to be insufficient for many applications. Regular contact-patterns among devices [3] can be leveraged for collaborative bandwidth aggregation. To this end, we design a system, AggreGATE, that enables mobile devices to seamlessly and simultaneously use their multiple connectivity options. We present some oft-occuring scenarios to motivate the potential benefits of AggreGATE.