A Congestion-Only Charging Mechanism for Multiplayer Gaming in Differentiated Services Networks

In future networks based on the differentiated services (DiffServ) architecture, users may be provided with the opportunity to choose their assured forwarding (AF) class. Users will choose the most inexpensive AF class that satisfies their QoS requirements. Previously the authors have proposed an algorithm known as consumer surplus maximization (CSM) [1]. Although this algorithm can be beneficial when employed by a single user, widespread adoption of the algorithm could cause network instability. This can be avoided by replacing static charges, with a lightweight congestion-only charging (CoC) pricing mechanism. Simulation results are presented from a networking scenario where users connect across a single DiffServ domain to engage in a multiplayer first person shooter (FPS) game.