Abstract:

A real time service overlay network (RSON) is presented in this paper. It can offer QoS(quality of service)sensitive transport service on Internet to facilitate the newly emerged real time multimedia applications. The RSON system consists of a collection of service nodes, deployed at various locations on Internet.These services nodes are connected together by servic e links, which corresponding to underlying IP paths, form an virtual transport network on top of existing network infrastructure. The most important feature of RSON is that, it requires no changes at the network layer and its business practice. To ensure the desired performance of every overlay service flows, the distributed service nodes in RSON all participate in an overlay service routing protocol (OSRP). The OSRP includes measurement of service links; link states dissemination; path selection and setup; and an associated data forwarding module. As a virtual transport network over the underlying data networks, the RSON empowers the third party providers to offer value added service on Internet to its customers. Using VoIP application as an example, we illustrate how to provide enhanced network service on Internet and identify the tangible benefits it generates.

Key words: real time service overlay network, service overlay network, overlay service routing protocol, voice over IP