Design and Implementation of a Measurement-Based Policy-Driven Resource Management Framework For Converged Networks

This paper presents the design and implementation of a measurement-based QoS and resource management framework, CNQF (Converged Networks QoS Management Framework). CNQF is designed to provide unified, scalable QoS control and resource management through the use of a policy-based network management paradigm. It achieves this via distributed functional entities that are deployed to co-ordinate the resources of the transport network through centralized policy-driven decisions supported by measurement-based control architecture. We present the CNQF architecture, implementation of the prototype and validation of various inbuilt QoS control mechanisms using real traffic flows on a Linux-based experimental test bed.Comment: in Ictact Journal On Communication Technology: Special Issue On Next Generation Wireless Networks And Applications, June 2011, Volume 2, Issue 2, Issn: 2229-6948(Online

New Challenges in Quality of Services Control Architectures in Next Generation Networks

A mesura que Internet i les xarxes IP s'han anat integrant dins la societat i les corporacions, han anat creixent les expectatives de nous serveis convergents així com les expectatives de qualitat en les comunicacions. Les Next Generation Networks (NGN) donen resposta a les noves necessitats i representen el nou paradigma d'Internet a partir de la convergència IP. Un dels aspectes menys desenvolupats de les NGN és el control de la Qualitat del Servei (QoS), especialment crític en les comunicacions multimèdia a través de xarxes heterogènies i/o de diferents operadors. A més a més, les NGN incorporen nativament el protocol IPv6 que, malgrat les deficiències i esgotament d'adreces IPv4, encara no ha tingut l'impuls definitiu.Aquesta tesi està enfocada des d'un punt de vista pràctic. Així doncs, per tal de poder fer recerca sobre xarxes de proves (o testbeds) que suportin IPv6 amb garanties de funcionament, es fa un estudi en profunditat del protocol IPv6, del seu grau d'implementació i dels tests de conformància i interoperabilitat existents que avaluen la qualitat d'aquestes implementacions. A continuació s'avalua la qualitat de cinc sistemes operatius que suporten IPv6 mitjançant un test de conformància i s'implementa el testbed IPv6 bàsic, a partir del qual es farà la recerca, amb la implementació que ofereix més garanties.El QoS Broker és l'aportació principal d'aquesta tesi: un marc integrat que inclou un sistema automatitzat per gestionar el control de la QoS a través de sistemes multi-domini/multi-operador seguint les recomanacions de les NGN. El sistema automatitza els mecanismes associats a la configuració de la QoS dins d'un mateix domini (sistema autònom) mitjançant la gestió basada en polítiques de QoS i automatitza la negociació dinàmica de QoS entre QoS Brokers de diferents dominis, de forma que permet garantir QoS extrem-extrem sense fissures. Aquesta arquitectura es valida sobre un testbed de proves multi-domini que utilitza el mecanisme DiffServ de QoS i suporta IPv6.L'arquitectura definida en les NGN permet gestionar la QoS tant a nivell 3 (IP) com a nivell 2 (Ethernet, WiFi, etc.) de forma que permet gestionar també xarxes PLC. Aquesta tesi proposa una aproximació teòrica per aplicar aquesta arquitectura de control, mitjançant un QoS Broker, a les noves xarxes PLC que s'estan acabant d'estandarditzar, i discuteix les possibilitats d'aplicació sobre les futures xarxes de comunicació de les Smart Grids.Finalment, s'integra en el QoS Broker un mòdul per gestionar l'enginyeria del tràfic optimitzant els dominis mitjançant tècniques de intel·ligència artificial. La validació en simulacions i sobre un testbed amb routers Cisco demostra que els algorismes genètics híbrids són una opció eficaç en aquest camp.En general, les observacions i avenços assolits en aquesta tesi contribueixen a augmentar la comprensió del funcionament de la QoS en les NGN i a preparar aquests sistemes per afrontar problemes del món real de gran complexitat.A medida que Internet y las redes IP se han ido integrando dentro de la sociedad y las corporaciones, han ido creciendo las expectativas de nuevos servicios convergentes así como las expectativas de calidad en las comunicaciones. Las Next Generation Networks (NGN) dan respuesta a las nuevas necesidades y representan el nuevo paradigma de Internet a partir de la convergencia IP. Uno de los aspectos menos desarrollados de las NGN es el control de la Calidad del Servicio (QoS), especialmente crítico en las comunicaciones multimedia a través de redes heterogéneas y/o de diferentes operadores. Además, las NGN incorporan nativamente el protocolo IPv6 que, a pesar de las deficiencias y agotamiento de direcciones IPv4, aún no ha tenido el impulso definitivo.Esta tesis está enfocada desde un punto de vista práctico. Así pues, con tal de poder hacer investigación sobre redes de prueba (o testbeds) que suporten IPv6 con garantías de funcionamiento, se hace un estudio en profundidad del protocolo IPv6, de su grado de implementación y de los tests de conformancia e interoperabilidad existentes que evalúan la calidad de estas implementaciones. A continuación se evalua la calidad de cinco sistemas operativos que soportan IPv6 mediante un test de conformancia y se implementa el testbed IPv6 básico, a partir del cual se realizará la investigación, con la implementación que ofrece más garantías.El QoS Broker es la aportación principal de esta tesis: un marco integrado que incluye un sistema automatitzado para gestionar el control de la QoS a través de sistemas multi-dominio/multi-operador siguiendo las recomendaciones de las NGN. El sistema automatiza los mecanismos asociados a la configuración de la QoS dentro de un mismo dominio (sistema autónomo) mediante la gestión basada en políticas de QoS y automatiza la negociación dinámica de QoS entre QoS brokers de diferentes dominios, de forma que permite garantizar QoS extremo-extremo sin fisuras. Esta arquitectura se valida sobre un testbed de pruebas multi-dominio que utiliza el mecanismo DiffServ de QoS y soporta IPv6. La arquitectura definida en las NGN permite gestionar la QoS tanto a nivel 3 (IP) o como a nivel 2 (Ethernet, WiFi, etc.) de forma que permite gestionar también redes PLC. Esta tesis propone una aproximación teórica para aplicar esta arquitectura de control, mediante un QoS Broker, a las noves redes PLC que se están acabando de estandardizar, y discute las posibilidades de aplicación sobre las futuras redes de comunicación de las Smart Grids.Finalmente, se integra en el QoS Broker un módulo para gestionar la ingeniería del tráfico optimizando los dominios mediante técnicas de inteligencia artificial. La validación en simulaciones y sobre un testbed con routers Cisco demuestra que los algoritmos genéticos híbridos son una opción eficaz en este campo.En general, las observaciones y avances i avances alcanzados en esta tesis contribuyen a augmentar la comprensión del funcionamiento de la QoS en las NGN y en preparar estos sistemas para afrontar problemas del mundo real de gran complejidad.The steady growth of Internet along with the IP networks and their integration into society and corporations has brought with it increased expectations of new converged services as well as greater demands on quality in communications. The Next Generation Networks (NGNs) respond to these new needs and represent the new Internet paradigm from the IP convergence. One of the least developed aspects in the NGNs is the Quality of Service (QoS) control, which is especially critical in the multimedia communication through heterogeneous networks and/or different operators. Furthermore, the NGNs natively incorporate the IPv6 protocol which, despite its shortcomings and the depletion of IPv4 addresses has not been boosted yet.This thesis has been developed with a practical focus. Therefore, with the aim of carrying out research over testbeds supporting the IPv6 with performance guarantees, an in-depth study of the IPv6 protocol development has been conducted and its degree of implementation and the existing conformance and interoperability tests that evaluate these implementations have been studied. Next, the quality of five implementations has been evaluated through a conformance test and the basic IPv6 testbed has been implemented, from which the research will be carried out. The QoS Broker is the main contribution to this thesis: an integrated framework including an automated system for QoS control management through multi-domain/multi-operator systems according to NGN recommendations. The system automates the mechanisms associated to the QoS configuration inside the same domain (autonomous system) through policy-based management and automates the QoS dynamic negotiation between peer QoS Brokers belonging to different domains, so it allows the guarantee of seamless end-to-end QoS. This architecture is validated over a multi-domain testbed which uses the QoS DiffServ mechanism and supports IPv6.The architecture defined in the NGN allows QoS management at level 3 (IP) as well as at level 2 (e.g. Ethernet, WiFi) so it also facilitates the management of PLC networks. Through the use of a QoS Broker, this thesis proposes a theoretical approach for applying this control architecture to the newly standardized PLC networks, and discusses the possibilities of applying it over the future communication networks of the Smart Grids.Finally, a module for managing traffic engineering which optimizes the network domains through artificial intelligence techniques is integrated in the QoS Broker. The validations by simulations and over a Cisco router testbed demonstrate that hybrid genetic algorithms are an effective option in this area.Overall, the advances and key insights provided in this thesis help advance our understanding of QoS functioning in the NGNs and prepare these systems to face increasingly complex problems, which abound in current industrial and scientific applications

End-to-end QoS architecture for 4G scenarios

This paper describes the QoS architecture and the corresponding QoS signalling protocols to be developed inside the IST project Daidalos. We address the main results achieved in terms of the definition of the QoS components and its interfaces, the description of the application and network services, definition of the signalling scenarios for the integration of the QoS signalling with the application signalling and with mobility approaches, and specification of the intra- and inter- domain QoS control approaches. We also describe the QoS management of the system, through the Policy–based Management System, and a Real-time Network Monitoring system able to aid in admission control with the results of active and passive measurements. All the elements, interfaces and functionalities take into account multicast services and inherent broadcast networks

A QoS-enabled resource management scheme for F-HMIPv6 micro mobility approach

In the near future, wireless networks will certainly run real-time applications with special Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. In this context micro mobility management schemes such as Fast Handovers over Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (F-HMIPv6) will be a useful tool in reducing Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) handover disruption and thereby to improve delay and losses. However, F-HMIPv6 alone does not support QoS requirements for real-time applications. Therefore, in order to accomplish this goal, a novel resource management scheme for the Differentiated Services (DiffServ) QoS model is proposed to be used as an add-on to F-HMIPv6. The new resource management scheme combines the F-HMIPv6 functionalities with the DiffServ QoS model and with network congestion control and dynamic reallocation mechanisms in order to accommodate different QoS traffic requirements. This new scheme based on a Measurement-Based Admission Control (MBAC) algorithm is effective, simple, scalable and avoids the well known traditional resource reservation issues such as state maintenance, signaling overhead and processing load. By means of the admission evaluation of new flows and handover flows, it is able to provide the desired QoS requirements for new flows while preserving the QoS of existing ones. The evaluated results show that all QoS metrics analyzed were significantly improved with the new architecture indicating that it is able to provide a highly predictive QoS support to F-HMIPv6

Admission control in multiservice IP networks : architectural issues and trends

The trend toward the integration of current and emerging applications and services in the Internet has launched new challenges regarding service deployment and management. Within service management, admission control (AC) has been recognized as a convenient mechanism to keep services under controlled load and assure the required QoS levels, bringing consistency to the services offered. In this context, this article discusses the role of AC in multiservice IP networks and surveys current and representative AC approaches. We address and compare the architectural principles of these AC approaches and their main features, virtues and limitations that impact on the quality control of network services. We identify important design aspects that contribute to the successful deployment of flexible and scalable AC solutions in multiservice networks

A Quality of Service Framework for Internet Share Trading

The recent Quality of Service (QoS) architecture proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) enables a set of new network services providing possible solutions to improve the quality of the Internet-based services. The interest of this research is to find a customizable QoS network solution for the Internet based share trading business by deploying these QoS architectures in order to address the quality issues in the Internet Share Trading Business. The construction of the QoS theoretical framework begins with the identification of the Internet service capabilities required by the Internet share trading business through a case study. The appropriate QoS architectural design is selected through matching the existing QoS architectures with the identified service capabilities. The QoS technological strategies and QoS capabilities are thus derived from the selected QoS architectural design. Additionally, the effectiveness of the proposed QoS architectural design is evaluated against the current implementation by using computer simulation

The internet: A global telecommunications solution?

The provision and support of new distributed multimedia services are of prime concern for telecommunications operators and suppliers. Clearly, the potential of the latest Internet protocols to contribute communications components is of considerable interest to them. In this article we first review some of the new types of application and their requirements, and identify the need to support applications that have strict QoS requirements, the so-called critical applications. We review two proposals for enhancing the Internet service architecture. In addition to the integrated services work of the IETF, we look at the more recent proposals for differentiated services in the Internet. We then individually review recent protocol developments proposed to improve the Internet, and to support real-time and multimedia communications. These are IPv6 (the new version of the Internet Protocol), Resource reSerVation Protocol, and Multiprotocol Label Switching, respectively. In each case, we attempt to provide critical reviews in order to assess their suitability for this purpose. Finally, we indicate what the basis of the future infrastructure might be in order to support the full variety of application requirements

A QoS-enable solution for mobile environments

This paper addresses the problem of designing a suitable Quality of Service (QoS) solution for mobile environments. The proposed solution deploys a dynamic QoS provisioning scheme able to deal with service protection during node mobility within a local domain, presenting extensions to deal with global mobility. The dynamic QoS provisioning encompasses a QoS architecture that uses explicit and implicit setup mechanisms to request resources from the network for the purpose of supporting control plane functions and optimizing resource allocation. Abstract--- For efficient resource allocation, the resource and mobility management schemes have been coupled resulting in a QoS/Mobility aware network architecture able to react proactively to mobility events. Both management schemes have been optimized to work together, in order to support seamless handovers for mobile users running real-time applications. Abstract--- The analysis of performance improvement and the model parametrization of the proposed solution have been evaluated using simulation. Simulation results show that the solution avoids network congestion and also the starvation of less priority DiffServ classes. Moreover, the results also show that bandwidth utilization for priority classes is levered and that the QoS offered to Mobile Node's (MN's) applications, within each DiffServ class, is maintained in spite of MN mobility. Abstract--- The proposed model is simple, easy to implement and takes into account the mobile Internet requirements. Simulation results show that this new methodology is effective and able to provide QoS services adapted to application requests

Project DIANA - Converging and Integrating IP and ATM for real-time applications

The evolution of IP and ATM share some common drivers. Both of them are addressing efficient network resource utilisation. In order to evaluate the options and combinations offered by these technologies the DIANA project is looking into the areas where ATM and IP both overlap and complete each other, that is QoS interworking between ATM and IP. This is achieved by investigating RSVP-over-ATM approach. This solution is compared with two IP level approaches: Differentiated Services and Scalable Resource Reservation Protocol (SRP)