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Led by Prof. Raj
Srinivasan
Modern telecommunications networks are no longer
dedicated to carrying service specific traffic such as voice or
data. They are expected to transport diverse sources of traffic such
as voice, data, video on demand and multimedia. However, designing
and managing a single network that can carry different traffic types
is very complex. Sophisticated control mechanisms are required to
properly guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) to all different traffic
types and at the same time reduce congestion, maximize network
utilization and ensure that the network is stable. Each traffic type
requires different amount of network resources, namely, buffer space
and bandwidth. In addition, its flow through the network is affected
by network control functions such as queuing mechanisms, bandwidth
allocation and routing protocols. Contrary to the best effort
service provided in traditional networks, future telecommunications
networks that guarantee some QoS or Service Level Agreement (SLA) to
their customers should address complex tasks such Call Admission
Control (CAC) and Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) in their
network management functions. Ee introduce a framework, called
Self-X, for the basic network management functions. It is part of a
vision of a network that can manage its functions itself without
requiring human interactions. It is expected that such a network
will transport diverse sources of traffic such as voice, data and
video on demand, while guaranteeing individual and specific QoS to
each user. It is also expected that such a network is
self-installing, self-learning, self-sizing and self-healing. In
order to achieve these self-aspect goals, the network should possess
the following. Firstly, it needs the self-knowledge, which is
typically derived from accurate on-line measurements and current
network conditions. Secondly, it requires the self-learning
abilities to adapt to changes in traffic and network conditions.
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