Evaluation on Segmented File Download Methods Using Parallel TCP/MPTCP Connections on Multiple Paths

The emergence of mobile terminals capable of utilizing multiple communication media presents an opportunity to enhance segmented file download methods by aggregating their bandwidth. Previous research has shown the potential for achieving high-speed segmented file downloads using multiple TCP connections (parallel TCP). In contrast, Multipath TCP (MPTCP), which enables the use of multiple paths, can be a promising technology to utilize multiple paths to download a file, but the effect of MPTCP applied to segmented file downloads has not been thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, the performance of the application using MPTCP can be enhanced by considering the parallel utilization of multiple MPTCP connections. This paper focuses on comparing download performance yielded by using parallel MPTCP and parallel TCP. As a result of the evaluation, it was found that the download performance of parallel TCP was superior in most of the conditions tested, although there were some network conditions in which parallel MPTCP was superior. Developing methods to effectively manage multiple paths with varying network conditions and provide stable performance can be regarded as one of the most important assurance technologies in today's network landscape.