Charging for QoS in internetworks

Pricing is an effective regulatory tool to provide proper incentives so that users' self-interest will lead them to modify their usage according to their needs. This leads to better overall network utilization and enhanced users' satisfaction. In this work, a scalable pricing framework for QoS capable networks supporting real time, adjustable real time, and non-real time traffic is studied. The scheme, which belongs to usage-based methods, is independent of the underlying network and the mechanisms for QoS provisioning. The framework is credit-based ensuring the fairness, comprehensibility, and predictability of usage cost. On the other hand, it provides a means for the network providers to ensure, with high probability, cost recovery and profit, competitiveness of prices, and encouragement of client behavior that will enhance the network's efficiency. This is achieved by appropriate charging mechanisms and suitable incentives. Simulation results suggest that users have better overall satisfaction; providers are able to recover costs; better network utilization is achieved while reduced call blocking probability is observed. The implementation and usage costs of the framework are low.