| 摘要 |
The invention provides an IP QoS management mechanism for modern wireless networks to guarantee delivery of IP services with the required quality through the networks to customers. In order to realize IP QoS management in wireless networks, the invention provides a layered QoS management architecture which performs the QoS control over the entire communication protocol stack of a wireless network. The architecture consists of two levels of IP QoS management with an adaptation interface between them. These different functional and adapting levels are called, from top to bottom, Upper Layer QoS Management (ULQM), IP QoS adaptation (IQA), and Lower Layer QoS Management (LLQM). The ULQM is responsible for IP QoS management in the Upper Layers of a wireless network for end-to-end QoS delivery. In contrast, the LLQM takes charge of managing IP QoS in the Link Layer and Physical Layer of the network. To shield the LLQM from burdens caused by coping with application details from the Upper Layers, the IQA plays a role in buffering and adapting the QoS signaling flow from the Upper Layers to prevent it from directly entering into the LLQM without adaptation. Therefore, the IQA allows the ULQM and LLQM to work independently of each other. In addition to this functionality, the IQA also provides a link between the LLQM and the ULQM in the form of a QoS delivery path from the Upper Layers to the Link Layer and Physical Layer of the network to consistently provide an IP QoS management flow over a wireless link. The IQA sub-layer contains two entities. One is called the IP QoS Adaptation Control Function (IQACF), residing in the control plane of the communication protocol stack and the other is called the IQA Entity (IQAE), residing in the data plane of the stack. <IMAGE> |
