Bandwidth provisioning and pricing for networks with multiple classes of service

Network service providers purchase large end-to-end connections from network owners, then offer individual users network access at a price. Appropriately provisioning (purchasing) and allocating (pricing) connections remains a difficult problem due to increasing demands and network dynamics. However, connection management is more complex with the deployment of end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS). This paper describes a scalable connection management strategy for QoS enabled networks. The management technique maximizes profit, while maintaining a low blocking probability for each connection. Important issues regarding demand estimation, connection duration, and pricing intervals, are addressed and analyzed. Analytical results are then validated using simulation under realistic conditions