Quality of Service (QoS) in Distributed Hypermedia-Systems

This paper reports on the transfer of the traditional QoS notion into the environment of distributed hypermedia systems. In the beginning we will analyse the concepts of "Quality of Service" from a general point of view. Then we try to examine the QoS idea as it is used and supported in the OSI standard and other CCITT recommendations. We will show that the concept of QoS that has been developed in the technical environment is unprofitable for the user of a hypermedia application and that it is desirable to evolve a new viewpoint on "Quality of Service". This view should emphasise the use of the QoS terminology based on the requirements of the user, who wants to express quality with regard to his subjective needs. A user interface called "Quality Query by Example" will be presented as a solution for these requirements.