A Multiplayer Games Priority Selection Strategy for Use in QoS-Aware Networks

Future Quality of Service (QoS) aware networks, such as those based on the Differentiated Services (DiffServ) architecture, will provide users with the opportunity to prioritize the traffic they receive and generate. Different priorities will entail different per-byte or per-packet charges. To aid users operating within such an environment, a priority selection strategy is required. In this paper, we propose a priority selection strategy based on Consumer Surplus (CS), which is the difference between what the user is willing to pay (utility) and the actual cost. We then evaluate this strategy in a networking scenario where a user is involved in a multiplayer Counterstrike game, in which different priorities can be assigned to the downstream traffic. A utility curve, applicable to a First Person Shooter (FPS) game like Counterstrike, is presented. Using simulation results we show that for varied traffic loads, the CS strategy offers comparable application performance to that of always selecting the highest priority. However it does so at a reduced cost to the user..