iScavenger: Predictive Multi-Flow Scheduling for Delay-Sensitive Traffic in ATSSS Networks

Abstract

3GPP Access Traffic Steering, Switching, and Splitting (ATSSS) enables traffic to be distributed across heterogeneous 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks to improve performance, reliability, and resilience. ATSSS can use multipath transport protocols such as Multipath QUIC (MP-QUIC), where packet scheduling plays a central role in determining latency and resource utilization for delay-sensitive applications. Many existing MP-QUIC scheduling policies rely on instantaneous path measurements or fixed rules rather than forecasts of future application demand. In multi-flow scenarios, such decisions can lead either to contention on the preferred low-latency path and transient latency inflation for priority traffic or to overly conservative use of available capacity. This paper proposes iScavenger, a predictive, machine-learning-based multi-flow scheduling policy for ATSSS environments. iScavenger employs a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to forecast near-future bandwidth demand for delay-sensitive Sticky traffic. Based on this prediction, background packets are admitted to the preferred low-latency path only when sufficient residual capacity is expected to remain; otherwise, they are steered to the alternative path. The policy is implemented within the Monty MP-QUIC framework and evaluated in a controlled Mininet testbed using traffic traces from the online game League of Legends, with fixed and variable path capacities and controlled jitter and packet loss. The results indicate that, under the evaluated conditions, iScavenger provides configurable operating points in the latency–utilization trade-off, limiting additional Sticky-flow RTT while achieving higher background throughput than conservative baseline policies. These findings highlight the potential of short-term traffic-demand prediction for proactive contention management in ATSSS-enabled multi-access networks.