A multiple criteria, measurement-based admission control mechanism for Self-Aware Networks

High demand and network congestion, can prevent multimedia applications and users from obtaining the network service they require for a successful operation. A way to control traffic congestion and satisfy all users´ QoS requirements, without overprovisioning, is admission control (AC). This work presents a measurement-based AC mechanism, which improves the performance of a self-aware network (SAN) (E. Gelenbe et al., 2004) and provides QoS throughout the lifetime of all connections. Our algorithm is a multiple criteria AC algorithm, where each user can specify the QoS metrics that interest him/her. Our scheme which decides whether a new call should be allowed to enter the network based on measurements of the QoS metrics on each link of the network before and after the transmission of probe packets. The decision is based on a novel algebra of QoS metrics, inspired by Warshal´s algorithm, that searches whether there is a feasible path to accommodate the new flow with out affecting the existing users. Our algorithm and the underlying mathematical principles was briefly described and we present experimental results, conducted in a large laboratory test-bed, under highly congested circumstances.