An architecture for internet inter-domain interconnections and bandwidth trading towards effective NGN deployment

Abstract

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) is developing an architecture for Next Generation Network (NGN) to provide end-to-end Quality of Service (e2e QoS), for which Internet service provider (ISP) interconnections play a key role. Furthermore, for an effective e2e QoS-guaranteed interconnection across multiple ISPs, it is of a great help to develop a framework which enables ISPs to trade their unused network capacity. This study presents Hub-and-Spoke (H&S) interconnection model, where the hub called Neutral Internet Business eXchange (NIBX) arranges Bandwidth Trading (BT) on the basis of the market mechanism. After introducing qualitative and quantitative justifications of the H&S NIBX interconnection model, we propose a platform prototype for BT based upon the H&S NIBX architecture. Presented also are some detailed descriptions of key functional elements together with decision models embedded in the functions. Operations scenarios show potential benefits of the NIBX + BT architecture for ensuring e2e QoS, the ultimate goal of ITU-T’s NGN.