Dynamic behavior of differential pricing and quality of service options for the Internet
Peter C. Fishburn, Andrew M. Odlyzko · 1998
Abstmct.Thesimple model on which the Internet has op- erated, with all packets treated equally, and charges only for access links to the network has contributed to its explosive .ggowthHowever, there is wide dissatisfaction with the delays and losses in current transmission.Further, new services such as packet telephony require aksurance of considerably better service.These factors have stimulated tie development of methods for providing Quality of Service (QoS), and this will make the Internet more complicated.Differential quality will also force differential pricing, and this will further increase the complexity of the system.The solution of simply putting in more capacity is widely regarded as impractical.However, it appears that we are about to enter a period of rapidly declining transmission costs.The "replications of such an environment are explored by considering models witi two types of demands for data transpo~differing in sensitivity to congestion.Three network confi=wations are considered (1) witl separate networks for the two types of traffic, (2) with a single network thatprovidesuniforrrdy high QoS, and (3) with a single physical network that provides differential QoS-The best solution depends on the assumptions made about demand and tech-nolo~cal pro~ess.However, we show that the provision of uniformly high QoS to all traffic may well be best in the long nm.Even when it is not the least expensive, the additional costs it imposes are usually not kwge.In a dynamic environment of rapid growth in traffic and decreasing prices, these costs may well be worth paying to attain the simplicity of a single network that treats all packets equally and has a simple charging mechanism.Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this wmk for personal or classroom use is -gmntedwithout fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on ~hefirst page.To copy othemise.10Tepublish,to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission andr'ora fee ICE98 CharlestonSC USA