Policy-based traffic management in home area networks: an elementary testbed model

Traffic management in home area networks (HANs) is different from the traditional traffic management in access and core networks. Traditionally HAN traffic works in best effort fashion and the HAN services are usually accommodated on the basis of first-in first-out rule. However quality can deteriorate when high number of users is connected to the HAN. Moreover the bursty traffic can also impact the quality by chocking the network traffic and blocking the network resources for all other traffic. Traffic management rules can be employed in HAN to prioritise different types of traffic according to user requirements. Dynamic configuration of network resources and services is multifaceted process, which requires many skills and knowledge. Policy-based Traffic Management (PBTM) can play a significant role in managing home networks and configuring the services dynamically according to HAN user requirements. This paper presents a testbed model for HAN to simplify traffic management process based on the principles of policy-based network management.