A virtual network service for integrated-services internetworks

Integrated-services internetworks are usually defined as those internetworks that are designed to carry a variety of traffic types and to satisfy the main requirements of each type of traffic. In this paper, we argue that the services needed to satisfy such requirements are not the only ones those internetworks will have to offer in order to become a true basis for human society in the next century, they must be able to reproduce the most important features of networkless society, one of which is the provision of support to a variety of groups. We show how a service that will allow any interested user to create a virtual network for a group on top of any integrated-services internetwork can be designed. We call such a virtual network a "supranet".