Welcome to MMNS 2003. Multimedia services over IP networks are proliferating at an enormous speed. There is also increasing demand for solutions that provide assured levels of s- vice quality. All of these require novel paradigms, models, and architectures for realizing integrated end-to-end service management rather than managing n- work elements in isolation. Providing scalable Quality of Service (QoS) while maintaining fairness, along with secure and optimal network resource mana- ment, are key challenges for the future Internet. These challenges apply to both ?xed and wireless networks. This book contains all of the papers presented at the 6th IFIP/IEEE - ternational Conference on Management of Multimedia Networks and Services (MMNS 2003) hosted by The Queen s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, September 7 10, 2003. MMNS 2003 follows the successful conferences held in Santa Barbara (2002), Chicago (2001), Fortaleza, Brazil (2000), Paris (1998), and Montreal (1997). MMNS uses single-track presentations, which provide an intimate setting for discussion and debate. The conference is known for its high quality papers from various research communities. In just six years, MMNS has established itself as one of the premier conferences focusing on the management of multimedia networks and services. The conference objective is to bring - gether researchers working in all facets of network and service management as applied to broadband networks and multimedia services."

Autonomic networking aims to solve the mounting problems created by increasingly complex networks, by enabling devices and service-providers to decide, preferably without human intervention, what to do at any given moment, and ultimately to create self-managing networks that can interface with each other, adapting their behavior to provide the best service to the end-user in all situations. This book gives both an understanding and an assessment of the principles, methods and architectures in autonomous network management, as well as lessons learned from, the ongoing initiatives in the field. It includes contributions from industry groups at Orange Labs, Motorola, Ericsson, the ANA EU Project and leading universities. These groups all provide chapters examining the international research projects to which they are contributing, such as the EU Autonomic Network Architecture Project and Ambient Networks EU Project, reviewing current developments and demonstrating how autonomic management principles are used to define new architectures, models, protocols, and mechanisms for future network equipment.