FlowQoS: QoS for the rest of us

Abstract

We describe the architecture of FlowQoS, a system that makes it easier for users in home broadband access networks to configure quality of service based on applications and devices, as opposed to obscure, low-level parameters. The central tenet of FlowQoS's design is control logic that performs application identification and uses flow-table rules to forward traffic through the appropriate rate shapers on a home router. The architecture has two components: a flow classifier, which maps application traffic to the appropriate parts of flow space; and an SDN-based rate shaper, which shapes application traffic by forwarding it through the appropriate shaped virtual links in the home gateway. This paper describes the high-level architecture of FlowQoS, as well as our current implementation.