History-based classification of encrypted traffic into QOS class with self-update

Abstract

Traffic flows need to be classified into different Quality of Service (QoS) classes to prioritize traffic according to their QoS. Without proper provision of differentiated service based on QoS requirement of each application, a user's Quality of Experience (QoE) will be poor and communication system resources may not be efficiently utilized. Since encrypted traffic now comprises the majority of the Internet traffic, classification of encrypted traffic is necessary for a satellite broadband system. We propose a novel approach to classify encrypted traffic instantaneously at the start of a traffic flow based on actual measured traffic characteristics. The classification is based on the history which is self-updated when a flow is finished. The approach is also capable of updating classification type at the middle of the flow when the measured traffic characteristics do not match with the history-based classification. The classification type corresponds to a QoS traffic class which is readily amenable to queuing and servicing at a network egress and ingress point.