13-11-2012, 02:17 PM
Latency Equalization as a New Network Service Primitive
ABSTRACT
Multiparty interactive network applications such as
teleconferencing, network gaming, and online trading are
gaining popularity. In addition to end-to-end latency
bounds, these applications require that the delay
difference among multiple clients of the service is
minimized for a good interactive experience. We propose
a Latency EQualization (LEQ) service, which equalizes
the perceived latency for all clients participating in an
interactive network application. To effectively implement
the proposed LEQ service, network support is essential.
The LEQ architecture uses a few routers in the network as
hubs to redirect packets of interactive applications along
paths with similar end-to-end delay. We first formulate
the hub selection problem, prove its NP-hardness, and
provide a greedy algorithm to solve it. Through extensive
simulations, we show that our LEQ architecture
significantly reduces delay difference under different
optimization criteria that allow or do not allow
compromising the per-user end-to-end delay. Our LEQ
service is incrementally deployable in today’s networks,
requiring just software modifications to edge routers.