Contract-switching paradigm for internet value flows and risk management

Abstract

The Internet's simple design resulted in huge success in basic telecommunication services. However, in terms of providing end-to-end QoS services, the Internet's architecture needs major shifts since it neither allows (i) users to indicate their value choices at sufficient granularity nor (ii) providers to manage risks involved in investment for new innovative QoS technologies and business relationships with other providers as well as users. Currently, users can only indicate their value choices at the access/link bandwidth level not at the routing level. Similarly, an enterprise that needs end-to-end capacity contracts between two arbitrary points on the Internet for a short period of time has no way of expressing its needs. To allow these much needed economic flexibilities, we introduce contract-switching as a new paradigm for the design of future Internet architecture. Just like packet-switching enabled flexible and efficient multiplexing of data, a contract-switched inter-network will enable flexible and economically efficient management of risks and value flows with many more tussle points. ©2008 IEEE.