The DQM Architecture: Middleware for Application-centered QoS Resource Management

Multimedia applications often fail to perform as designed, when resources must be timeshared between multiple applications at run-time. To address this problem, a software architecture is investigated in which a centralized Dynamic Quality of Service Manager (DQM) mediates resource usage between the operating system and the applications. Applications are written to be able to execute at a range of operating levels---a level is defined by a certain amount of resource usage and the corresponding application quality. The DQM lowers the operating level of one or more applications when applications are performing poorly. This action immediately reduces overall resource consumption, which subsequently increases the resource availability to those applications performing poorly. Similarly, the DQM raises operating levels in conditions of underload, thus maximizing resource utilization and collective quality. Experimental results show that under certain conditions, a middleware approach to the..