scope:

As defined in [ITU-T Y.2251], multi-connection functionality provides capabilities to the user equipment and network to support simultaneous attachment to multiple access technologies. Furthermore, it controls and coordinates media sessions and components through multiple access technologies.

The user experience depends on the access technologies provided: high throughput, low delay, high security, etc. Multi-connection enables users to utilize either one of the available access technologies, or to utilize several at the same time. It is recognized that both operators and users will benefit from the harmonization of multiple connections, such as efficient utilization of network bandwidth, load balancing, high reliability of connection and continuity of services.

This Recommendation describes the functional architecture of multi-connection in terms of the overall functional requirements and the high-level overview of the multi-connection framework itself. The objective of this Recommendation is to develop the functional architecture, definitions and capabilities of the relative functional entities, and to describe the relationship between the multi-connection functional architecture and the NGN functional architecture [ITU-T Y.2012].