The QoSxLabel: a quality of service cross-layer label

In the context of multimedia and real-time communication, this paper introduces a standardized way for the packet QoS properties to be represented, in order to allow any of the underlying communication mechanisms to access and use these QoS properties. The QoSxLabel (quality of service cross-layer label) proposes a common syntax expressing the QoS properties. This label is not necessarily added as a new field in the packets but deduced from existing fields according to a well-defined set of rules. The use of the QoSxLabel by some of the mechanisms situated at different levels of the communication architecture allows a fine optimization of the communication services regarding the real application data requirements.