Implementation of levels of services on broadband networks with cable modem access
Luis Alberto Campos, Che-Fn Yu · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1997
Residential broadband access networks using technologies such as ADSL and cable modems have enabled the provisioning of emerging Internet applications such as Internet telephony, video conferencing and interactive games. These applications have specific end-to-end performance requirements from the network in order to have an acceptable performance. Currently the Internet is a best effort network which doesn't provide levels of service. There are many elements of an end-to-end network which are currently suitable to provide quality-of- service guaranties such as ATM links. Nevertheless, only with recent deployments of broadband access technologies and the introduction of Internet protocols such as RSVP, providing levels of service becomes feasible without the use expensive links to the customer site. This paper examines several network implementation options for introducing levels of service using cable modem access. Limitations imposed by the applications on the network as well as the contribution of the different network elements to level of service parameters such as end-to-end delay, throughput and jitter are examined. Concentration network architectures as well as proposed backbone configuration options for end-to-end level of service provisioning are presented. At the access network, provisioning of level of service using bandwidth control through packet throttling and through access network design providing excess bandwidth to customers are presented. HFC protocol dependent means to provide level of services including reservation and ATM based protocols are examined as well.