Application service quality indication to end-users in IP based networks as added value service

Service provisioning in customer satisfying quality is one of the most important issues for network and content providers. Beside satisfying customers, the intention of network operators is to overcome the position of just being bit pipe providers. One approach is to use network provider assets to develop new services which could be sold to other network operators, content providers and to end-users. This paper introduces a methodology to develop new services derived from deployed or existing network architectures by means of a proposed cookbook. These new services can address a variety of functionalities and services which are needed to enable and enrich existing services or markets. The Graceful Denial of Service is presented as such a service. This added value service provides feedback to the end-user about the expectable service quality of an application service, e.g. a 3rd party video streaming service. For that purpose a central entity requests network capability status from the access network as well as the requirements (e.g. bandwidth demand) of the application service on the network capabilities. Based on this information the feedback is derived and presented to the user. It is expected that such a user quality indication feedback improves the quality of experience.