Marker Graph Packet Marking for Fair HQoS Resource Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication networks face challenges in ensuring fair resource sharing among diverse packet flows with varying Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, leading to unfairness and inefficiencies due to heterogenous traffic mixes and changing congestion conditions, particularly at network bottlenecks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a packet marking strategy using a marker graph that encodes resource sharing policies hierarchically, allowing for weighted fairness among multiple packet flows by transforming random rates through a series of rate transformation nodes to determine a packet value, which is then used by simple schedulers to manage congestion and allocate resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If packet marking is used to implement HQoS resource sharing policies, then resource allocation fairness among multiple packet flows is improved, but the complexity of the packet marking algorithm increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packet marking algorithm is segmented into multiple independent rate transformation nodes, each handling a specific transformation operation. This modular structure allows complex HQoS policies to be decomposed into manageable sequential transformations, improving fairness while controlling algorithmic complexity through systematic breakdown of the marking process
Solution Approach 2:
The marker graph implements nested rate transformations where multiple transformation nodes are composed sequentially, with each node's output serving as the next node's input. This nesting structure enables complex resource sharing policies to be built by composing simpler transformation operations, achieving high fairness through layered transformations without requiring a single monolithic complex algorithm
2Reliability
If static reservation is used to guarantee minimum QoS, then QoS assurance for specific traffic is improved, but resource utilization efficiency deteriorates due to unused reserved resources
Solution Approach 1:
The packet marking algorithm dynamically adjusts packet values based on current network conditions and flow characteristics through rate transformations. Instead of static reservations, the system continuously adapts resource allocation by transforming rates according to actual traffic patterns, ensuring QoS reliability while maximizing resource utilization by allocating reserved resources to active flows rather than leaving them idle
3Ease of operation
If simple congestion control mechanisms are used, then ease of operation is improved, but fairness among heterogeneous flows deteriorates due to varying RTTs and traffic patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The packet marking algorithm acts as an intermediary between simple schedulers and heterogeneous traffic flows. By transforming packet rates through the marker graph before scheduling, it compensates for the simplicity of downstream schedulers, ensuring fairness among flows with different RTTs and patterns while keeping the actual scheduling operation simple and efficient
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for packet marking for a Hierarchical Quality of Service (HQoS) is provided to control resource sharing among a plurality of network flows with differentiated services. A packet marker at a single point (e.g., gateway) encodes the resource sharing policy for a plurality of packet flows into a single packet value. The HQoS policy is then realized by using simple PPV schedulers at the bottlenecks in the network.