Technical challenges in the delivery of interprovider QoS

Following a brief look at the motivations behind the move toward interprovider QoS, this article examines the technical challenges such a move presents. These challenges broadly fit into the related areas of service agreements and performance measurements. The background, requirements, concerns, and solution options for the topics of performance metrics, service classes, service requirements, performance measurements, and provider interconnection models are presented. In conclusion, we summarize the challenges and how they are being addressed.