Packet dispersion strategy evaluation from the perspective of packet loss pattern and VoIP quality

Abstract

The appearance of burst packet losses and its devastating effect on Voice over IP (VoIP) service have imposed a requirement for the implementation of loss recovery mechanisms to address VoIP quality during periods when high packet loss is exhibited. Existing loss recovery mechanisms are dependent on end point capabilities, whereas Quality of service (QoS) routing protocols suffer from complexity and scalability issues. In this paper, we examine packet dispersion's ability to address burst losses and provide a computational model, which is verified using real network testing. A study has been carried out to investigate the effect of different packet dispersion strategies on burst losses, which clearly shows dispersion's qualitative superiority over single path routing. Furthermore, an analytical approach is proposed resulting in quality estimation obtained by individual strategies. Practical evaluation has shown that each strategy copes differently with various burst scenarios in order to maximize VoIP quality.Keywords: burst loss, Markov model, packet dispersion, voice over IP, quality of service.