Bandwidth Broker

Abstract: For scalable support of guaranteed services that decouples the QoS control plane from the packet forwarding plane. More specifically, under this architecture, core routers do not maintain any QoS reservation states, whether per-flow or aggregate. Instead, QoS reservation states are stored at and managed by bandwidth broker(s). There are several advantages of such a bandwidth broker architecture. Among others, it relieves core routers of QoS control functions such as admission control and QoS state management, and thus enables a network service provider to introduce new (guaranteed) services without necessarily requiring software/hardware upgrades at core routers. Furthermore, it allows us to design efficient admission control algorithms without incurring any overhead at core routers. The proposed bandwidth broker architecture is designed based on a core stateless virtual time reference system developed in [20].

Abstract: An architecture for resource management of an IP-based cellular radio access network is presented. A measurement-based admission control scheme is used to monitor the load for each path in the network and QoS (quality of service) class and resource decisions are made based upon that information. A bandwidth broker processes the on-demand admission requests for iP resources by using the results of load control measurements. Since the requests can be processed very quickly using a simple table look-up, response times are fast, and the architecture is thus suitable for the cellular environment.

Abstract: In this paper we propose a two-tier resource management model for the global Internet. Our solution resembles the current two-tier routing hierarchy and allows individual administrative domains to independently make their own decisions on strategies and protocols to use for internal resource management and QoS support. The aggregate traffic crossing domain borders is served according to relatively stable, long-lived bilateral agreements. End-to-end QoS support is achieved through the concatenation of such bilateral agreements. We describe in detail a realization of this two-tier model, where a bandwidth broker (BB) acts as the resource manager for each administrative domain, neighboring bandwidth brokers communicate with each other to establish inter-domain resource agreements. As an illustrative example in this paper we used a simplified RSVP as an intradomain resource allocation protocol for the aggregate traffic between border routers. Our simulation results show that this two-tier design can provide effective end-to-end QoS support for user applications.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for making admission decisions in a packet switched network, such as a Differentiated Services (DiffServ) Packet Network. According to one aspect of the present invention, admission control decisions are based upon local information. An average premium service bandwidth utilized on an output link of a network device during a predetermined window of time is calculated. A determination regarding whether to accept or reject a request for a premium service flow involving the output link is made based upon the request, a total premium service bandwidth available on the output link, the average premium service bandwidth, and bandwidth request information associated with one or more flows that have been admitted within a predetermined holding time interval. According to another aspect of the present invention, multicast flows are supported. A measure of utilized premium service bandwidth is calculated for each of the output links of a multicast-capable network device. A request for premium service bandwidth for a multicast session is forwarded onto those of the output links specified by a multicast routing protocol which have sufficient premium service bandwidth available to accommodate the request based upon the total premium service bandwidth available on the output link, the measure of utilized premium service bandwidth on the output link, and the request. For each of the output links associated with the multicast session, a link state is maintained. The link state indicates the current state of a state machine that determines the behavior of the multicast-capable network device for the corresponding output link of the multicast session. Multicast packets that are subsequently received are forwarded according to the link states associated with the output links.