Dynamic Virtual Flow Switch for Multi-Tenant QOS Management

The patent segments QOS management into two levels: virtual machine level and flow level. The QOS manager divides the network resource management task by maintaining separate QOS information for each virtual machine and each flow, allowing independent control and guarantee of QOS for different virtual machines while sharing physical network resources. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling both high resource utilization through sharing and reliable QOS guarantees through separate management.

The patent introduces a QOS manager as an intermediary component between virtual machines and network resources. This intermediary collects QOS information from virtual machines, determines appropriate QOS policies, and enforces them on network flows. The QOS manager acts as a mediator that coordinates resource sharing among multiple virtual machines while ensuring each receives its guaranteed QOS, thus resolving the interference problem while maintaining efficient resource utilization.

The patent merges QOS management functions into a single centralized QOS manager that handles both virtual machine-level and flow-level QOS information. Instead of implementing separate complex management systems for each level, the patent combines them into one manager that maintains QOS information for virtual machines, receives flow QOS information, and enforces policies uniformly. This merging reduces system complexity while maintaining precise QOS guarantees at both levels.

The QOS manager is designed as a universal component that performs multiple functions: it manages QOS for entire virtual machines, manages QOS for individual flows within virtual machines, determines QOS policies, and enforces them on network traffic. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate specialized components for each QOS management task, reducing overall system complexity while achieving precise QOS guarantees at multiple levels.