Dynamic Programming QoS-based Classification for Links with Limited Service Levels

Abstract. We investigate the QoS-based classification of traffic streams for a multi-class link model with predetermined service levels. Specifically, we consider a link model with fixed service levels or fixed class weights which may be represented by a finite number of MPLS Label-Switched-Paths (LSPs). Our target is to classify a set of traffic streams each with arbitrary local QoSdemand into a small number of service levels while optimizing the residualallocated-resources as a result of the traffic classification. The residualallocated-resources will be measured by the service-quantization-overhead which is the summation of the differences between the required QoS and the offered service level for all traffic streams. We formulate the classification as a Dynamic-Programming problem. We then present a group of polynomial-timealgorithms to obtain the optimal classification for soft and hard QoS requirements. We also present the concept of "differentiation factor " and show the effect of this factor on minimizing the quantization-overhead.