Dependability is the ability to deliver service that can be justifiably trusted and relates to QoS parameters like availability, continuity (reliability), integrity, etc. In current networks, there is a limited, or non-existent, differentiation of dependability with respect to the kind of service, user group or user importance/willingness to pay. In dynamic and heterogeneous network environments this is unlikely to be acceptable, as some services have inherently higher dependability requirements than others, e.g. emergency services, and some application domains need high dependability for cost efficient operation, e.g. network based commerce, while others accept a lower than normal dependability for a reduced cost, e.g. peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Providing high dependability is very costly and new methods for dealing with dependability differentiation are needed. The objective of the project is to develop and evaluate such methods to provide availability, continuity, etc. of end-to-end services tailored to their quantitative requirements. In a multi-provider setting this involves inter-domain issues and dealing with SLAs between the different actors. In the access domain, additional challenges are mobility and heterogeneous technologies.

Project coordinator: Professor Bjarne E. Helvik