Edge-aware inter-domain routing for realizing next-generation mobility services

This work describes a clean-slate inter-domain routing protocol designed to meet the needs of the future mobile Internet. In particular, we describe the edge-aware inter-domain routing (EIR) protocol which provides new abstractions of aggregated-nodes (aNodes) and virtual-links (vLinks) for expressing network topologies and edge network properties necessary to address next-generation mobility related routing scenarios which are inadequately supported by the border gateway protocol (BGP) in use today. Specific use-cases addressed by EIR include emerging mobility service scenarios such as multi-homing across WiFi and cellular, multipath routing over several access networks, and anycast access from mobile devices to replicated cloud services. Simulation results for protocol overhead are presented for a global-scale Caida topology, leading to an identification of parameters necessary to obtain a good balance between overhead and routing table convergence time. A Click-based proof-of-concept implementation of EIR on the ORBIT testbed is described and used to validate performance and functionality for selected mobility use-cases, including mobile data services with open WiFi access points and mobile platforms such as buses operating in an urban area.