A dynamic quality of service framework for video in broadband networks

A dynamic framework for QoS control of video in distributed multimedia applications is presented. The framework allows flexible and efficient video delivery with application-level QoS support. Key components of the framework are client QoS renegotiation, server source rate control, and dynamic bandwidth allocation. The coordinated functionality of these distributed components provides soft QoS to adaptive applications. A proof-of-concept prototype of a video browser with user-level control of soft QoS is implemented within the proposed framework. The implementation uses a distributed software architecture that represents soft QoS requirements by software objects called service contracts. These objects are exchanged among servers, network nodes, and clients to achieve distributed soft QoS control. Experiences with the prototype and its performance are discussed.