Dynamic bandwidth allocation for real-time VBR video traffic in ATM networks

Abstract

We study the problem of dynamic bandwidth allocation for an ATM multiplexer loaded with real-rime VBR video traffic. The proposed mechanism adjusts the allocated bandwidth at regular intervals based on measured QoS. Instead of actual measurement of small cell loss ratios, we combine a virtual output buffer method with a regression method to shorten the time interval required for estimating the required bandwidth to support the specified QoS by prediction. Using numerical examples, we show that our proposed dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme is more efficient than the optimum static bandwidth allocation scheme. Our measurement-based scheme offers several advantages: (1) it removes the dependence on accurate traffic parameters to be declared by users; (2) it can be applied to a wide variety of traffic sources; (3) it adapts quickly to the variations of traffic with small measurement intervals, and (4) the complexity of the algorithm is small.