P1006

DISCMAN - Differentiated Services - Network Configuration and Management

closed

Inter-working tests and management issues such as signalling, charging, management and network engineering are undefined and still under discussion.

The work in this project gives the Public Network Operators (PNOs) the possibility for extensive knowledge and experiences in this new technology.

Also, management of a future QoS Internet is a topic in the IETF. With this project, the PNOs can bring in their strategies, knowledge and experiences into the IETF standardisation process.

Additionally, the work to be done will also make it possible for the PNOs to develop their own independent strategies for the implementation of IP QoS networks with differentiated services and, furthermore, to support these strategies by making specific contributions to standardisation bodies such as the IETF.

Objectives

The goal of this project is to investigate Service Models and Architectures, evaluate existing Differentiated Service implementations (especially interoperation issues) and to assess Traffic Engineering mechanisms such as Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) for their use in the framework of Differentiated Services. With the collected knowledge and experiences, it is possible to provide guidelines on how to set-up multi-provider QoS IP networks and to manage the QoS resources.

Note! Since many other Projects are investigating different ways of providing Differentiated levels of Quality in IP networks, this Project will concentrate on DiffServ and its implementations

The work of this project will address the following issues:

• For a set of sample end-to-end services (e.g. low loss probability or low delay), propose architectures (including guidelines to configure the network) that may be provided by a Differentiated Services network.
• Examine the actual status of Differentiated Services implementations (IETF, available implementations and other projects in the framework of ACTS/IST and TERENA)
• Run trials with multi-provider/multi-vendor scenarios.
• Recommendations on the installation of management and charging implementations in a multi-provider scenario
• Study (via simulation and/or analysis) the performance of Differentiated Services.
• Propose recommendations on how to set-up of Differentiated Service with minimum of QoS management (policing/marking and agreements between ISPs) and maximum of benefit in form of QoS charging.
• Examine the impact of Traffic Engineering mechanisms on the management of Differentiated Services networks (e.g. on Admission Control functions)
• Propose recommendations on how to apply Traffic Engineering mechanisms e.g. as provided by Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).
• Influence standardisation in IETF by producing Internet Drafts.

Co-operation is planned with relevant EURESCOM projects, e.g. P906 (QUASIMODO), P1009 and P1010 (RealCast) and with national and international bodies active in the area of Differentiated Services (IETF, Universities, TERENA, etc.) There will also be a close link to leading universities (e.g. EPFL), which have implemented Differentiated Services prototypes