DiffServ Management on Mobile IP Networks using COPS-PR

This paper describes and evaluates a framework for managing Differentiated Services (diffserv) configuration on Mobile IP-based networks. In the considered scenario, users can keep their QoS privileges while they move along through different access networks interconnected by a diffserv domain. In this case, the edge routers receive the diffserv configuration dynamically, according to the authentication events registered by the home agent during the mobile node’s handoff. The proposed framework is based on the IETF standards concerning diffserv management. The device configuration is represented in terms of a diffserv PIB, which is distributed to the diffserv edge routers using the COPS-PR protocol. By exploring the COPS-PR facilities, we define an efficient strategy for updating the PIB information in the managed devices without generating excessive management traffic. We conclude that, by properly exploring the COPS-PR facilities, the latency introduced by the COPS-PR management is not significant when compared with the Mobile IP handoff latency.