[8746] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Draft paper available: Prioritized queuing
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Hans-Werner Braun)
Thu Dec 2 21:32:33 1993
From: hwb@upeksa.sdsc.edu (Hans-Werner Braun)
To: com-priv@psi.com, net-acct@rice.edu
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 93 18:31:52 PST
We have written a paper titled "Mitigating the coming Internet crunch:
multiple service levels via Precedence," by R. Bohn, H-W. Braun, K.
Claffy, and S. Wolff. A Postscript version of this paper (not
necessarily the one to be published) is available in ftp.sdsc.edu
/pub/sdsc/anr/papers/precedence.ps.Z. The paper proposes a short-term
measure for dealing with high traffic volumes on the Internet, until
longer term measures (such as new architectures with usage-based
accounting) can be put into action.
The abstract of the paper follows:
The current architecture and implementation of the Internet assumes a
vast aggregation of traffic from many sources and stochastic
distribution of traffic both in space (traffic source) and time
(burstiness of traffic volume). Given this general assumption, Internet
components typically have little if any ability to control the volume
and distribution of incoming traffic. As a result the network,
particularly from the perspective of the router, is vulnerable to
significant consumption of networking resources by high-volume
applications, with possibly little stochastic behavior, from a few
users. This often impacts the overall profile of network traffic as
aggregated from many clients. An example is the continuous flows
introduced by real time applications such as packet audio, video, or
rapidly changing graphics.
This situation creates a time window where applications exist on a
network not designed for them, but before an appropriately architected
network can augment the current infrastructure and cope with the new
type of workload. We propose a scheme for voluntarily setting Internet
traffic priorities by end-users and applications, using the existing
3-bit Precedence field in the Internet Protocol header.
Our proposal has three elements. First, network routers would queue
incoming packets by IP Precedence value instead of the customary
single-threaded FIFO. Second, users and their applications would
voluntarily use different and appropriate precedence values in their
outgoing transmissions according to some defined criteria. Third,
network service providers may monitor the precedence levels of traffic
entering their network, and use some mechanism such as a quota system
to discourage users from setting high precedence values on all their
traffic. All three elements can be implemented gradually and unevenly
across the Internet infrastructure, providing a smooth transition path
from the present system. The experience we gain from an implementation
will furthermore provide a valuable knowledge base from which to
develop sound accounting and billing mechanisms and policies in the
future.
