LAUSR

For the 5th Generation networks, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is considering standardization of various solutions for traffic aggregation using licensed and unlicensed spectrum, to meet the rising data demands. IP Flow Mobility (IFOM) is a multi-access connectivity solution/protocol standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force and 3GPP in Release 10. It enables concurrent access for an User Equipment (UE) to Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). IFOM enabled UEs (IeUs) have multiple interfaces to connect to HetNets. They can have concurrent flows with different traffic types over these networks and can seamlessly switch the flows from one network to the other. In this paper, we focus on two objectives. First is to investigate the performance parameters, e.g. throughput, latency, tunnelling overhead, packet loss, energy cost, etc. of IeUs in HetNets of LTE and WLAN. We have proposed a novel mechanism to maximize the throughput of IeUs achieving a significant throughput gain with low latency for the IeUs. We have explored further and observed a throughput-energy trade-off for low data rate flows. To address this, we also propose a smart energy efficient and throughput optimization algorithm for the IeUs, resulting in a substantial reduction in energy cost, while maintaining the high throughput at lower latency and satisfying the Quality of Service requirements of the IeUs.