QoS-Based Routing of Multimedia Streams in Computer Networks

Continuous media such as audio and video require a certain quality of service (QoS) when transferred through computer networks. The selection of a network route for a particular media stream should hence take into account which route is best-suited for providing this QoS. QoSFinder is a method for QoS-based routing of multimedia streams. It is based on a path vector protocol that takes into account throughput, delay and loss rate of individual route segments. A simulation of QoSFinder shows that its heuristic is superior to metrics that are only based on one of these parameters. QoSFinder increases the probability of finding suitable paths through networks for distributed multimedia applications.