A Dynamic Cross-Layer Architecture for QoS Provisioning of Multimedia Services on all-IP based Adaptive Satellite Networks

This paper identifies a dynamic cross-layer architecture for QoS provisioning of multimedia services on an all-IP-based DVB-RCS/S2 satellite network. The proposed dynamic QoS architecture presents three cross-layer interfaces: one between the application and network layers on the satellite terminals (ST), which allows the provision of dynamic guaranteed QoS for multimedia applications and the user of adaptive codecs or multi-codec applications on the user side. A second cross-layer interface is proposed, between the IP and MAC layers in the Network Control Centre (NCC), which increases the efficiency of the satellite resource utilization. Finally, a third interface is introduced, between the physical layer of the gateway and the QoS manager of the NCC, which helps to minimize the connection blocking and dropping probabilities by implementing on the QoS manager a prediction algorithm (Bandwidth Estimator - BWE) for the physical channel variations. In addition, the system also implements in-band signaling to compensate for the management and control traffic overhead introduced by the highly dynamic architecture.