Bandwidth allocation in a dynamic environment using a variable pricing policy

We present a variable pricing policy for the dynamic allocation of bandwidth capacity. Simulation studies using different scenarios illustrate the different features of a dynamic and scalable service delivery policy that provides an improved level of bandwidth utilization. The recommended policy generates an increased revenue stream without sacrificing quality of service (QoS) demanded by the users. The proposed policy is based on a scalable pricing model that extends previous work done with a concentration on video on demand (VOD) applications. The proposed dynamic resource planning approach encourages the users to request a wider range of bandwidth as a scalable part of the bandwidth resource. Users, in our model, decide what on a desired service start time (t/sub s/) and end time (t/sub e/), and on the low and the high level of bandwidth for an acceptable level of quality. Our results show that, by selecting an appropriate bandwidth allocation policy and a corresponding pricing mechanism, it is possible to maintain specified levels of QoS and achieve increased revenue, reduce the number of blocked users, and improve resource utilization.