Building manageable multimedia network services

The paper addresses the problem of designing and realizing manageable multimedia network services. We argue that open interface between the service delivery and the service management systems can be defined using design patterns, i.e., genetic object models. As an example, we introduce a genetic object model that makes instances of a network service accessible to the management system. The model includes a set of cooperating objects that can be customized for particular service and management requirements. By applying this model to the design of mcast, an ATM multicast service, we enable the management system to monitor and control mcast sessions. To validate our approach, we have implemented mcast and the management functions on two different platforms: (1) on a high-performance emulation platform, which allows us to study the system's dynamic behavior and scaling properties in various scenarios; (2) on a broadband testbed, on which network services can be fully implemented, including the transport between multimedia devices. We outline a specific technique that allows us to run the same code, without changes, on both platforms.