A next-generation service overlay architecture

Abstract

The rapid evolution of next-generation networks and, in particular, fixed mobile convergence infrastructures raises the issue of providing personalized services adapted to the user’s context such as its device, access network, preferences, or quality of service (QoS) requirements. To design such value-added services, one solution consists in composing dynamically distributed service entities. In this paper, we propose a service overlay architecture in which a service level path is dynamically established to fulfill the user’s requirements. In order to meet this goal, two main issues have to be considered: service components discovery and service path management (i.e., setup, reconfiguration, release). The former issue is addressed based on a peer-to-peer approach in which QoS features are integrated in service lookup. For the latter issue, we rely on the Session Initiation Protocol to automate the setup of the service composition as well as its adaptation in case of perturbations (e.g., user switching device or service component failure).