Multimedia QoS adaptation for inter-tech roaming

We introduce a scalable application-level QoS adaptation service for roaming between wireless networks that are based on different technologies ('inter-tech' roaming). The service is part of a platform that supports the distribution of multimedia streams (e.g., a streamed TV channel) to mobile clients operating in a heterogeneous environment. Central to our approach is the notion of a service class, which is a domain-specific perceptual QoS level. Each domain in a wireless infrastructure must support a limited number of these service classes. Our adaptation service handles inter-tech roaming by handing a client off from one service class to another. We focus on the design of the adaptation service's client-side components. They combine the loss characteristics of the client's network interfaces with configurable policies to decide when to initiate a handoff to a target service class and when to complete it. We conclude with some experimental results.