ZyXEL Communications EMG5324-D10A User Manual

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Chapter 9 Quality of Service (QoS)
EMG5324-D10A User’s Guide
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9.6.2  IP Precedence
Similar to IEEE 802.1p prioritization at layer-2, you can use IP precedence to prioritize packets in a 
layer-3 network. IP precedence uses three bits of the eight-bit ToS (Type of Service) field in the IP 
header. There are eight classes of services (ranging from zero to seven) in IP precedence. Zero is 
the lowest priority level and seven is the highest. 
9.6.3  DiffServ 
QoS is used to prioritize source-to-destination traffic flows. All packets in the flow are given the 
same priority. You can use CoS (class of service) to give different priorities to different packet 
types.
DiffServ (Differentiated Services) is a class of service (CoS) model that marks packets so that they 
receive specific per-hop treatment at DiffServ-compliant network devices along the route based on 
the application types and traffic flow. Packets are marked with DiffServ Code Points (DSCPs) 
indicating the level of service desired. This allows the intermediary DiffServ-compliant network 
devices to handle the packets differently depending on the code points without the need to 
negotiate paths or remember state information for every flow. In addition, applications do not have 
to request a particular service or give advanced notice of where the traffic is going. 
DSCP and Per-Hop Behavior 
DiffServ defines a new DS (Differentiated Services) field to replace the Type of Service (TOS) field 
in the IP header. The DS field contains a 2-bit unused field and a 6-bit DSCP field which can define 
up to 64 service levels. The following figure illustrates the DS field. 
DSCP is backward compatible with the three precedence bits in the ToS octet so that non-DiffServ 
compliant, ToS-enabled network device will not conflict with the DSCP mapping.
The DSCP value determines the forwarding behavior, the PHB (Per-Hop Behavior), that each packet 
gets across the DiffServ network. Based on the marking rule, different kinds of traffic can be 
marked for different kinds of forwarding. Resources can then be allocated according to the DSCP 
values and the configured policies.
Level 1
This is typically used for non-critical “background” traffic such as bulk transfers that are allowed 
but that should not affect other applications and users. 
Level 0
Typically used for best-effort traffic.
Table 39   
IEEE 802.1p Priority Level and Traffic Type (continued)
PRIORITY 
LEVEL
TRAFFIC TYPE
DSCP (6 bits)
Unused (2 bits)