Incorporating priority scheme in IPv6 over ATM networks

An effective approach to support multiple QoS classes in IPv6 running over ATM networks is implemented by mapping the priority field of IPv6 into the ATM format. Such a scheme might not be necessary for simple congestion control in a network of equal capacity links, however, it might be important for multicasting to destinations reachable through a very diverse capacity network. When network congestion occurs, the cell loss requirements for different services can be satisfied by selectively discarding low priority cells. As the multi-priority scheme used in IPv6 is a `differentiated service' mechanism to enhance the QoS by best effort, its performance is certainly affected by the background traffic when these multi-priority traffic are multiplexed at the ATM level. This paper focuses on the performance with multi-priority scheme under different traffic conditions to determine the loss characteristics. The expected results are how QoS is affected and how priority can be given for more important traffic in the case of congested network.