Service level negotiation and COPS-SLS protocol

The Internet is a set of interconnected domains in which different QoS technologies can be deployed. The dynamic provision of end-to-end QoS over heterogeneous IP networks assumes the negotiation of mutually acceptable SLA. This paper presents the concept of intra-, inter- and multiple-domain service level negotiation using the COPS-SLS protocol. The negotiation process gives different parties in the negotiation the ability to agree upon the service level that a data stream can obtain, along with the permissible pricing of the service.