Abstract-The Differentiated Services framework (DiffServ) has been proposed to provide multiple Quality of Service (QoS) classes over IP networks. A network supporting multiple classes of service also requires a differentiated pricing structure. We propose a pricing scheme in a DiffServ environment based on the cost of providing different levels of quality of service to different classes, and on long-term demand. Pricing of network services dynamically based on the level of service, usage, and congestion allows a more competitive price to be offered, allows the network to be used more efficiently, and provides a natural and equitable incentive for applications to adapt their service contract according to network conditions. We develop a DiffServ simulation framework to compare the performance of a network supporting congestion-sensitive pricing and adaptive service negotiation to that of a network with a static pricing policy. Adaptive users adapt to price changes by adjusting their sending rate or selecting a different service class. We also develop the demand behavior of adaptive users based on a perceptually reasonable user utility function. Simulation results show that a congestion-sensitive pricing policy coupled with user rate adaptation is able to control congestion and allow a service class to meet its performance assurances under large or bursty offered loads, even without explicit admission control. Users are able to maintain a stable expenditure. Allowing users to migrate between service classes in response to price increases further stabilizes the individual service prices. When admission control is enforced, congestion-sensitive pricing still provides an advantage in terms of a much lower connection blocking rate at high loads.
Wang REF proposes a strategy where the price depends on the service class' average demand.
Pricing network resources for adaptive applications in a differentiated services network
Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2001. Conference on Computer Communications. Twentieth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Society (Cat. No.01CH37213)
Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2001. Conference on Computer Communications. Twentieth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Society (Cat. No.01CH37213)
Computer Science