End-to-end QoS provisioning in multimedia wireless/mobile networks using an adaptive framework

This article presents a framework for multimedia networking in a wireless and mobile environment. We consider both multimedia application needs as well as networking requirements, and try to bridge these paradigms using an adaptive framework. Central to this framework is the concept of representing a multimedia connection in terms of multiple substreams each with their own specified QoS requirement and making network elements (switching and access points), services, and protocols (signaling, control, routing) aware of the QoS requirements of such substreams. As resource availability in the wireless and mobile network fluctuates, the network selects and schedules substreams in order to present the information content with an acceptable quality at a receiver (or each receiver in case of multicast connections). This is done while achieving a reasonable utilization efficiency of network resources and sharing them in a fair manner.