A Differentiated Services API for Adaptive QoS Management in IP Networks

Abstract : The introduction of quality of service in IP Networks brings solutions to real time applications requirements over Internet. Because of its simplicity, Differentiated Services architecture proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is becoming the most employed solution for providing end-to-end QoS (Quality of Service) to network based applications. However, tuning QoS parameters in edge and core routers of a DiffServ domain for efficient resource utilization and stable network behavior is not an easy task. Because of the unpredictable and dynamic behavior of the Internet traffic, network entities need to take fast decisions and perform fast adaptations for the provision of adequate end-to-end QoS. This paper proposes an Application Programming Interface for near real time bandwidth allocation and parameters tuning of DiffServ queues in Cisco routers as a first step to address to the aforementioned problem.