DiffServ Resource Management in IP-based Radio Access Networks

The increasing popularity of the Internet, the flexibility of IP, and the wide deployment of IP technologies, as well as the growth of mobile communications have driven the development of IP-based solutions for wireless networking. The introduction of IP-based transport in Radio Access Networks (RANs) is one of these networking solutions. When compared to traditional IP networks, an IP-based RAN has specific characteristics, due to which, for satisfactory transport functionality, it imposes strict requirements on resource management schemes. In this paper we present the Resource Management in DiffServ (RMD) framework, which extends the DiffServ architecture with new admission control and resource reservation concepts, such that the resource management requirements of an IP-based RAN are met. This framework aims at simplicity, low-cost, and easy implementation, along with good scaling properties. The RMD framework defines two architectural concepts: the Per Hop Reservation (PHR) and the Per Domain Reservation (PDR). As part of the RMD framework a new protocol, the RMD On DemAnd (RODA) Per Hop Reservation (PHR) protocol will be introduced. A key characteristic of the RODA PHR is that it maintains only a single reservation state per PHB in the interior routers of a DiffServ domain, regardless of the number of flows passing through.