E2E QoS Improvement

Exclusive for WBA Members

Today, networks play a crucial role in handling vast amounts of information, some of which require special treatment to ensure acceptable performance for specific applications. To address this, various Quality-of-Service (QoS) mechanisms are available, operating at different layers of the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS). These mechanisms can be selected based on the application’s requirements to maintain satisfactory performance throughout its lifespan.

Recognizing the diverse range of applications and their unique QoS needs, the WBA has adopted a phased approach to tackle this challenge. The approach includes the following steps:

• Identify representative Use Cases
• Establish QoS requirements and corresponding Key Performance Indices (KPIs)
• Recommend a choice of standard QoS mechanisms to deploy with the goal of providing the required QoS for QoS-sensitive applications while co-existing with other non-QoS-sensitive applications in the same network
• Execute trials on one or more networks with and without the recommended standard QoS mechanisms, demonstrating QoS improvement for the relevant applications
• In some cases, identify potential requirements for enhancements to existing or for new standard QoS mechanisms
• Enhancements to existing or new standard QoS mechanisms when defined may get included in the scope of a subsequent WBA QoS effort.

The current phase of the WBA E2E Wi-Fi QoS project focuses on optimizing Wi-Fi links using QoS mechanisms provided by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Specifically, the project targets three key Use Cases: Residential, Gaming, and Enterprise. Each Use Case is accompanied by corresponding QoS KPIs, and the project provides a comprehensive overview of associated challenges. It outlines standard QoS mechanisms to effectively address these issues.

WBA members can access the Extranet HERE to download this exclusive paper.