Theoretical analysis of a virtual delay based tariff model

In this paper, we present a per-call usage-based tariff model to charge for IP guaranteed services. The tariff is built on the basis of the virtual delay, which is a value characterizing an improved IP service. We propose a model to compute the virtual delay within an administrative domain from purely technical considerations, taking into account traffic, performance and system parameters. In addition, we analyze the sensitivity of the virtual delay and of the tariff to the involved parameters, taking into account both users´ benefit and operators´ income. Our goal is to provide directions for dimensioning purposes.