Abstract. We propose an admission control approach for IPTV in which decisions to admit new flows are based on effective bandwidth estimates calculated using empirical traffic measurement. We describe our approach to estimate the effective bandwidth required to satisfy given Quality-of-Service constraints on traffic and specify a simple admission control algorithm which uses this estimation to manage flow admissions. We present the results of a simulation study, employing real traffic traces for long-lived flows, which indicate that our algorithm ensures that an adequate, but not overly generous, amount of bandwidth is allocated to ensure that Quality-of-Service targets for accepted flows will be met. We also compare our algorithm with alternative approaches based on analytical estimation of effective bandwidth; we demonstrate that these approaches are weak at taking into account related Quality of Service constraints and thus reserve inappropriate amounts of bandwidth, leading to either increased QoS target violations, or underutilisation of resources.

Abstract—The paper presents an admission approach for IPTV service providers that is designed to minimize QoS violations whilst effectively utilizing available bandwidth. Central to the approach is an empirical method of estimating the effective bandwidth required to satisfy QoS targets for admitted traffic flows. The paper describes this method and specifies two admis-sion control algorithms based on the use of effective bandwidth estimates. The first algorithm employs a simple evaluation of whether there is sufficient bandwidth available to ensure, with an appropriate degree of confidence, that QoS targets will not be violated if a requested flow is admitted. The second algorithm utilizes information relating to the cost, duration and request fre-quency of specific IPTV content to prioritize higher revenue flows within the admission control process. Results of a simulation study (employing real traffic traces of long-lived flows) indicate that the proposed algorithms ensure that an adequate, but not overly generous, amount of bandwidth is allocated to ensure that QoS targets for accepted flows are met. Furthermore, they demonstrate the potential advantage of using content specific information in the admission control process to maximize generated revenue. Index Terms—Admission control, aggregated traffic, effective bandwidth, quality of service. I.