Management of Multimedia Networks and Services

Book excerpt: Welcome to MMNS 2003. Multimedia services over IP networks are proliferating at an enormous speed. There is also increasing demand for solutions that provide assured levels of s- vice quality. All of these require novel paradigms, models, and architectures for realizing integrated end-to-end service management rather than managing n- work elements in isolation. Providing scalable Quality of Service (QoS) while maintaining fairness, along with secure and optimal network resource mana- ment, are key challenges for the future Internet. These challenges apply to both ?xed and wireless networks. This book contains all of the papers presented at the 6th IFIP/IEEE - ternational Conference on Management of Multimedia Networks and Services (MMNS 2003) hosted by The Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, September 7–10, 2003. MMNS 2003 follows the successful conferences held in Santa Barbara (2002), Chicago (2001), Fortaleza, Brazil (2000), Paris (1998), and Montreal (1997). MMNS uses single-track presentations, which provide an intimate setting for discussion and debate. The conference is known for its high quality papers from various research communities. In just six years, MMNS has established itself as one of the premier conferences focusing on the management of multimedia networks and services. The conference objective is to bring - gether researchers working in all facets of network and service management as applied to broadband networks and multimedia services.