A policy framework for integrated and differentiated services inthe Internet

We examine the issues that arise in the definition, deployment, and management of policies related to QoS in an IP network. The article provides an overview of requirements for QoS policies, alternative policy architectures that can be deployed in a network, different protocols that can be used to exchange policy information, and exchange of policy information among different administrative domains. We discuss current issues being examined in IETF and other standards bodies, as well as issues explored in ongoing policy-related research at different universities and research laboratories     

A performance evaluation approach for GSM-based information services

The ever increasing diffusion of mobile communications will lead to massive mobile access to the Internet. The paper focuses on the wireless application protocol (WAP) for providing mobile information services, as envisaged by the personalized access to local information and services for tourists (PALIO) project within the fifth research framework of the European Commission. In particular, we consider a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network where WAP traffic is transported by the short message service (SMS) on specific GSM signaling channels. We develop suitable traffic models for both the WAP downlink traffic and the signaling traffic. An analytical approach is described that allows evaluation of the mean transmission delay of a WAP page. Finally, a downlink traffic scheduling policy is proposed in order to reduce the delay variance so that users experience a more regular traffic behavior (service usability requirement). The theoretical derivations for the GSM-SMS scenario are general and can also be tailored for other mobile communication systems. The study allows dimensioning of both the service and the downlink signaling traffic capacity in order to fulfill quality-of-service requirements for users.     

A systematic controller-design approach for neutral-point-clamped three-level inverters

This paper proposes a simple linear feedback-based control technique that ensures zero-neutral-point (NP) potential in three-level voltage-source inverters. The technique works even under dynamic load conditions and enables the decoupled control of the direct and in-quadrature load currents. The technique is based on the relative-gain-array (RGA) approach, which has been successfully used in the control of chemical-engineering processes. The resulting scheme allows the use of outer control loops to set the direct and in-quadrature load currents as required for the specific application (e.g., adjustable speed drives). Experimental results prove the theoretical considerations and show the simplicity of the proposed control scheme.     

Differentiated services TCP algorithm for the Internet

A new concept of the slow-start threshold hopping coefficient in the TCP Reno algorithm is proposed. A modified TCP algorithm is devised for implementing differentiated services over the Internet. A theoretical analysis and simulations are presented to validate the effectiveness of the algorithm     

Wireless and cellular architecture and services

Cellular architecture partitioning can improve the performance of telecommunications systems. The model proposed by the author allows for changing the cell size for different services and the number of users. The cell size that will ensure the best possible performance and quality of service can be derived by the model. The main task of a telecommunication system is call processing. This includes identifying incoming calls, establishing a communication path for the duration of the connection, and disconnecting the call after the conversation has ended. Call processing uses different components of the software architecture and involves processes and messages performing different functions and accessing various resources. In addition, the system requires administration and maintenance that also involves processes using different resources     

Using service models for management of Internet services

As Internet services grow in complexity, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are finding out that the ad hoc methods that they have employed thus far to monitor and diagnose their services are not sufficient to provide acceptable service quality to their subscribers. In this paper, we demonstrate how service models can he used by ISPs to effectively manage their service offerings. A service model encapsulates a human expert's knowledge of a service, its components, and its interdependencies with other services. In addition, using ongoing measurements, a service model tracks the health of the different services and their components. By traversing a service model top-down, an operator can not only assess the overall health of a service, but also easily correlate the health of all the services and service components to determine the root cause of any problems that may occur. By minimizing the time and effort needed to diagnose problems, service models enable ISP operators to efficiently resolve problems that occur in an ISP environment. Since each ISP system is unique in many respects, unique service models have to be crafted for each of the services in every ISP system. Handcrafting customized service models requires enormous effort and time on the part of a human expert, a luxury that few ISPs can afford. In this paper, we describe a methodology for constructing customized service models for a target ISP system with minimal human intervention. This methodology relies on a service model creation engine that composes a custom service model for an ISP system using a predefined service model template specification and automatically discovered information about the target ISP system. We describe a prototype implementation of this methodology and present an example of a service model obtained from a real-world ISP system. The concepts described are applicable for the management of networks and services in enterprise systems as well     

A neural fuzzy resource manager for hierarchical cellular systems supporting multimedia services

Using intelligent techniques to perform radio resource management is an effective method. The paper proposes neural fuzzy control for radio resource management in hierarchical cellular systems supporting multimedia services. A neural fuzzy resource manager (NFRM) is designed, which mainly contains a neural fuzzy channel allocation processor (NFCAP). The NFCAP has a two-layer architecture: a fuzzy cell selector (FCS) in the first layer and a neural fuzzy call-admission and rate controller (NFCRC) in the second layer. The FCS chooses not only the handoff failure probabilities and the resource availabilities in both microcell and macrocell, but also the user mobility, as input linguistic variables. The NFCRC takes the handoff failure probability and the resource availability of the selected cell as input variables to perform call admission control and rate control for the call. Simulation results show that the NFRM can always guarantee the quality of service (QoS) requirement for handoff failure probability for all traffic loads. Also, the NFRM improves the system utilization by 31.1% while increasing the handoff rate by 2% over the overflow channel allocation (OCA) scheme; it enhances the system utilization by 6.3% and 1.4%, and still reduces the handoff rate by 14.9% and 6.8%, as compared to the combined channel allocation (CCA) and fuzzy channel allocation control (FCAC) schemes, respectively, under a predefined QoS constraint.     

A static verification approach for architectural integration of mixed-signal integrated circuits

In this paper we present a static method for verifying the proper integration of analog and mixed-signal macroblocks into an integrated circuit. We consider the problem in a setting where there is no golden reference for verifying the validity of the interconnections between the blocks. The proposed verification methodology relies on an abstract modeling of the functional behavior of the blocks and a set of consistency criteria defined over the composition of these abstract models. A new formalism called mode sequence chart (MSeqC) has been presented for capturing the behavior of the blocks at a level of abstraction that is suitable for interconnection verification. We present rules to compose the MSeqCs of each block in an integrated design and present three criteria that indicate possible interconnection faults. We present a tool called AMS-IV (AMS-interconnection verification) that takes the design netlist as input, the MSeqC model of each design block as reference, and tests the three criteria.     

Residential broadband Internet services and applicationsrequirements

Consumer interest in accessing the Internet for browsing the World Wide Web has exploded in the past two years. The current narrowband residential Internet access infrastructure using dial-up through the PSTN not only is too slow, but also leads to high service blocking probability. Hence, providing an “always-on” high-speed Internet access service has been viewed as the new killer application for residential broadband networks. Residential broadband Internet service design requires understanding of the networking requirements of broadband Internet applications. This article provides a framework for characterizing applications requirements in general, with special emphasis on Internet applications such as Web browsing. The author presents a classification of applications based on their networking requirements, and discusses the traffic and quality of service requirements for each application class     

A slotted multicode CDMA protocol for efficient integration of voice and data in cellular networks

This paper presents a novel radio channel structure based on slotted CDMA technology intended for carrying traffic with diverse bandwidth/QoS requirements in mobile environments, e.g. personal communication systems (PCS). The essence of our approach is a combination of flexible slotting with allocation of multiple codes to high‐bandwidth mobiles. As demonstrated by our performance studies, the proposed scheme efficiently integrates multiple traffic classes into a unified CDMA system. It is highly flexible and incurs low overheads for a wide range of realistic traffic conditions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A FIFO-based buffer management approach for the ATM GFR services

We investigate the TCP packet transmission over the ATM Guaranteed Frame Rate (GFR) service using a selective packet-discard with buffer vacancy tracking strategy and a packet-based push-out buffering scheme. Our approach is based on FIFO queueing discipline, it features fair sharing of available resources as well as feasibility in hardware implementation     

A framework for the dimensioning of broadband mobile networks supporting wireless Internet services

The integration of heterogeneous flows in wireless mobile networks requires that new methodologies for network design and resource dimensioning be developed. We discuss a framework for the dimensioning of such networks by taking into account differentiated user and traffic profiles. Distinct QoS requirements from various applications result in different aggregate throughput per cell being achievable for the same loading factor and network layout depending on user mix. Therefore, appropriate characterization of user mixes and aggregation techniques that map these mixes into resource requirements are key in the design of third-generation systems.     

IN services for converged (Internet) telephony

Given the convergence of the PSTN and IP-based networks, it would be advantageous to transparently support access to the existing installed base of intelligent network services from packet endpoints, while simultaneously providing newer, more advanced services to said endpoints from within the IN infrastructure. In this article we describe the INSeCT (IN Services for Converged [Internet] Telephony) prototype, aimed at achieving these very goals in networks using H.323. It presents background material on VoIP and IN, then focuses on the prototype implementation     

A practical approach for providing QoS in the Internet backbone

This article describes a practical approach for providing quality of service in the Internet backbone. The approach considers both technical and economic factors. We first present network service provider (NSP) billing models and how NSPs provision their networks. We then analyze causes of QoS-related problems, and describe a practical approach for providing QoS. This approach makes use of good network design, differentiated services, traffic protection, traffic engineering, and traffic management techniques. The relative importance of these techniques is pointed out. Although this approach largely focuses on issues within a single NSP domain, if multiple NSPs adopt such an approach (or a similar approach), interdomain QoS can also be provided.     

An efficient power-saving mechanism for integration of WLAN and cellular networks

In this letter, we propose an efficient power-saving mechanism using paging of cellular networks for WLAN in heterogeneous wireless networks, where WLAN interface is turned off during idle state without any periodic wake-up in order to save power consumption while at the same time, the existing paging of cellular network is utilized in place of beacons in WLAN. For the proposed mechanism, the mean power consumption is investigated via analytical and simulation results.     

A new systematic design approach for low-power analog integrated circuits

In this paper, a new design approach for systematic design and optimization of low-power analog integrated circuits is presented based on the proper combination of a simulation-equation based optimization algorithm using geometric programming as an optimization approach and HSPICE as a simulation and verification tool by a knowledge-based transistor sizing tool which uses physical-based gm/I_D characteristic in all regions of transistor operation to increase the accuracy in a reasonable simulation time. The proposed design methodology is successfully used for automated design and optimization of an operational amplifier with hybrid-cascode compensation using 0.18 μm CMOS technology parameters with the main purpose of minimizing the power consumption of the circuit.     

A multiuser approach to narrowband cellular communications

We compare three receivers for coded narrowband transmission affected by fading and co-channel interference. The baseline receiver is based on conventional diversity reception with maximal-ratio combining. A multiuser approach allows us to derive a maximum-likelihood multiuser receiver and its reduced-complexity suboptimal version. Finally, a decorrelating diversity receiver, which seeks a tradeoff between performance and complexity, is studied. Closed-form performance parameters are derived for all the proposed receivers in the case of coded coherent PSK and independent frequency nonselective Rayleigh fading     

Software architecture for integration of video services in theEtherphone system

Software mechanisms that make use of analog transmission and storage of video for computer-controlled video communication and file storage are described. The authors extended the Etherphone voice management system to support video conferencing and file storage. The software mechanisms for conference management consist of a central connection manager, and video and user interface agents running on client workstations. A conferencing architecture that supports multiplicity in the number of conferences and media is presented. The video file server stores and retrieves full-motion video information within conferences. It uses optical disks to store video frames and builds a high-level file and directory interface. The user interface to the directory interface is a multimedia document editor that permits video annotations to be freely interspersed with text. The performance of the system, which spans multiple media networks, has been highly satisfactory     

A systematic approach to intelligent building design

The Future Intelligent System and Engineering Service for Buildings (FINEBIL) concept, which integrates intelligent building marketing, engineering and construction is reviewed. The integration of facilities management, building automation, data communication, and office automation systems, called for in the FINEBIL-System Development Engineering Methodology (SDEM) is summarized. It consists of standard techniques for engineering intelligent building systems. Several technologies for the next generation of intelligent buildings are discussed