The Emerging Resource and Admission Control Function Standards and Their Application to the New Triple-Play Services

摘要

The next-generation network (NGN) is characterized by, among other characteristics, the prevalent use of the Internet Protocol (IP) for end-to-end packet transfer. In contrast to today's specialized networks optimized for specific applications, NGN is a general multiservice network that must meet a wide range of application performance needs and security requirements. The key to fulfilling this complex duty is a dynamic, policy-based resource management framework, known as the Resource and Admission Control Functions (RACF). This paper discusses the relevant standardization efforts and provides a vision for the future work in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3rd Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP and 3GPP2), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The discussion is illustrated by the applications of the RACF architecture to the new triple-play services: high-speed Internet, IP television (video on demand or regular broadcasts), and telephone service over a single broadband connection.