QoS filters: Addressing the heterogeneity gap

Disparities in current computer technologies exist between networks, end-systems and user applications. Problems resulting from this heterogeneity gap are at their most acute in distributed multipeer environments. This paper addresses Quality of Service (QoS) disparities in heterogeneous multipeer internetworking and proposes the use of filters to bridge this aspect of the heterogeneity gap. These filter mechanisms must be sufficient adaptive to handle dynamic changes in both end-system and network capabilities. This paper discusses various filter mechanisms implemented at Lancaster University and the software developed to evaluate the feasibility of these mechanisms within a dynamic QoS controlled architecture.