Performability of Multimedia Services                  Implementer's Guide

Goal

The goal of the combined Acceptability and Performability measurements is to produce a Reference Manual which can provide useful information for PNOs launching commercial Multi-Media services in ATM networks. The multitude of different Multi-Media applications and end system configurations (workstations and PCs) makes the network and application configuration difficult. The Acceptability and Performability measurements planned within Jupiter will cover a range of different Multi-Media applications and end systems in order to find universially valid configuration information.

Acceptability Measurements

Unlike previous performance studies of Multi-Media services and applications, the Jupiter project will include actual users in the Acceptability measurements. The Acceptability measurements will focus on users and how they perceive the QoS for the different Multi-Media services. The measurement parameters will be different Multi-Media applications, variable network conditions and different end system configurations. Based on these measurements, a range of acceptable values for loss and delay for the different Multi-Media services and end system configurations will be established.

Performability measurements

The Performability measurements will identify the system components that contribute to information loss and/or delay. Based on the acceptable values for loss and delay, guidelines for network and end system configurations will be produced. Thus, the Performability measurements will make it easier for ATM networks and Multi-Media applications to be configured to meet the QoS requirements identified by the Acceptability measurements.

The Performability measurements will focus on four main areas:

• Characterising the traffic at both the ATM and Internet Protocol level
• Evaluating the impact a wide area network infrastructure has on the Multi-Media traffic
• Identifying the main sources for loss and delay in the end-systems and the network
• Evaluating network and application level performance for different configurations