End-to-end quality of service coordination for multimedia applications in heterogeneous, mobile networks

Anytime, anyplace application of distributed, multimedia services requires flexible configuration of service quality and coordination of relevant management actions both in mobile terminal and network. This paper presents a new approach for coordinating quality of service (QoS) configuration at multimedia-session establishment and during service adaptations, in accordance with user preferences for service presentation, user contracts with providers, and access/utilization management of the access-provider networks. The general features of an end-to-end negotiation protocol (E2ENP) for multimedia-session management are discussed. E2ENP is designed to minimize signaling load and maximize flexibility of system configuration. The application model of the E2ENP is described and interactions between terminals and access provider are discussed. Some initial measurement results detailing E2ENP performance are presented in consideration with various network configurations.