DSTO - Measurement Architecture for Defence Network Bandwidth Brokerage

The Problem:

The Defence IP networking environment carries a wide range of traffics over land and satellite links. Router DiffServ capabilities can be used to ensure the traffic carried on this network are assigned different priorities and help protect the Quality of Service (QoS) provided to real-time applications such as Voice over IP. DSTO investigated the use of Bandwidth Brokerage and router configuration to guarantee QoS for mission critical traffic and network efficiency during periods of heavy use.

Solution:

We assisted DSTO by analysing measurement architectures, router configurations and admission control algorithms in order to achieve the required QoS whilst maximising the throughput of the network.

A network simulator was created to model the proposed architecture. Different traffics - such as voice, video, and data - were modelled and sent through the simulated network. This enabled pinpointing of potential bottlenecks and problems in the network. Cisco router mechanisms to enable QoS were also modelled and specific configurations investigated to determine the most suitable one for a given network. Different call admission schemes, in conjunction with a measurement architecture, were also considered so as to enable the network to admit as much traffic as possible without causing an overload. All of these aspects were put together to create a consistent, robust design for a high network utilisation with efficient mechanisms for assigning traffic priorities.

The results of our research assisted DSTO in achieving their goal and are now being incorporated into a Concept Technology Demonstrator.