A Framework for Agent-Aware Network Acceleration Services in Home Broadband Access

Introduction The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here. Home broadband access networks provide connectivity through a well-established architecture: the Customer Premises Equipment (Customer Premises Equipment) authenticates with a Broadband Remote Access Server (Broadband Remote Access Server) via IP over Ethernet, the Broadband Remote Access Server communicates with Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting servers for subscriber authentication and policy authorization, and IPv6 prefixes are delegated to the Customer Premises Equipment via DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation for address allocation within the home network. As AI agents become integral to home environments, they exhibit diverse network requirements that the current infrastructure cannot address. A video surveillance agent requires sustained uplink bandwidth; an interactive voice assistant demands low-latency paths; a general-purpose AI agent needs balanced throughput for multi-modal communication. Moreover, the current home broadband service model is rigid. Subscribers purchase plans on monthly or yearly cycles, and network rate limiting is typically configured as static Committed Access Rate (Committed Access Rate) policies on the Broadband Remote Access Server. There is no mechanism for fine-grained, on-demand service differentiation — a subscriber cannot, for example, purchase two hours of premium acceleration for a specific agent, or buy a traffic-based acceleration package. This document proposes a framework that addresses both needs: Enables AI agents to request and receive differentiated network acceleration services through an operator-provided SKILL. Introduces a dynamic service model where subscribers can purchase and manage acceleration resources (time-based, volume-based, or event-driven) in addition to their base broadband plan. The design is guided by the following principles:

Zero modification to existing infrastructure: The Customer Premises Equipment, DHCPv6 procedures, IP over Ethernet authentication, and subscriber billing flows are not modified.
Agent-initiated service request: Agents actively request acceleration through a standardized SKILL, rather than relying on the network to infer agent presence.
Compatibility with existing Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting: The framework leverages existing Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting infrastructure (RADIUS or Diameter) with incremental extensions.

Scope This document defines the architectural framework, the service model, and the interaction flows among the participating entities. Detailed protocol specifications, byte-level formats, and Quality of Service implementation mechanisms are deferred to companion documents.

Terminology Agent: A software entity within the home network that acts autonomously or semi-autonomously. Agents possess a pre-assigned Agent-ID and are capable of invoking the Network Acceleration SKILL. Agent-ID: An opaque identifier that uniquely identifies an agent. Assumed to be assigned prior to the acceleration request. Network Acceleration SKILL: An operator-provided interface that enables agents to subscribe to, request, and manage network acceleration services. Acceleration Service Level: A defined tier of network service quality that an agent may request through the SKILL. Broadband Remote Access Server Control Plane Agent: A software component within the Broadband Remote Access Server that processes acceleration requests, coordinates with the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server, and installs Quality of Service policies on the Broadband Remote Access Server data plane. Dynamic Service Subscription: A service model where acceleration resources can be purchased and consumed on demand (by duration, volume, or event), as opposed to static monthly or yearly broadband plans.

Architecture

Overview The architecture introduces a service overlay on the existing broadband access infrastructure. Four entities participate:

The core idea: the agent, after obtaining IP connectivity through standard procedures, uses the Network Acceleration SKILL to send an acceleration request directly to the Broadband Remote Access Server. The Broadband Remote Access Server Control Plane Agent processes this request, verifies the agent's credentials with the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server, and installs Quality of Service policies on the data plane. Subsequent traffic from the agent receives differentiated treatment.

Entity Roles Agent: The service requester. Possesses an Agent-ID, integrates the SKILL, and holds a credential for authentication. Invokes the SKILL when acceleration is needed. Customer Premises Equipment: Zero modification required. Continues existing functions: IP over Ethernet authentication, DHCPv6-PD client (toward Broadband Remote Access Server), DHCPv6 server (toward home devices), IPv6 routing. The agent's acceleration request traverses the Customer Premises Equipment as a regular IPv6 packet. Broadband Remote Access Server: Extended with a Control Plane Agent (processes requests, manages policies) and data plane enhancement (per-agent Quality of Service entries keyed by IPv6 source address). Determines the subscriber by matching the agent's source IPv6 against the existing Prefix Delegation table. Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting Server: Authorization and billing authority. Extended to support agent service subscriptions, per-agent authorization decisions, and per-agent usage accounting. Underlying RADIUS or Diameter infrastructure is reused with new attributes.

Compatibility with Existing Broadband The acceleration service operates as a strict overlay: Customer Premises Equipment IP over Ethernet authentication: unchanged. DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (Broadband Remote Access Server to Customer Premises Equipment): unchanged. Customer Premises Equipment sub-delegation to home devices: unchanged. Subscriber base billing: unchanged. Only two new interactions are introduced: Agent-to-Broadband Remote Access Server (acceleration signaling) and an extension of Broadband Remote Access Server-to-Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (agent authorization within the subscriber context).

Service Framework

SKILL-based Service Subscription The Network Acceleration SKILL is a software component published by the network operator. It serves as the standardized interface between AI agents and the broadband acceleration service. When an agent determines that its application requires enhanced network performance, it invokes the SKILL to subscribe to an acceleration service. The SKILL handles all protocol interactions with the Broadband Remote Access Server — message formatting, endpoint discovery, credential management, and error handling — so that the agent developer interacts only with a high-level API. The SKILL exposes the following logical operations:

request_acceleration: Subscribe to a specific acceleration service level for a given duration or traffic volume. Returns a session handle and the granted Quality of Service parameters.
query_status: Query the status and remaining resources of an active acceleration session.
release_acceleration: Terminate an active acceleration session and release network resources.
list_service_levels: Discover available acceleration tiers and their descriptions.

Broadband Remote Access Server endpoint discovery (how the SKILL learns the Broadband Remote Access Server service address) MAY be accomplished through DNS SRV records, DHCPv6 options, or operator pre-configuration, depending on the deployment.

Dynamic Service Model A key motivation for this framework is to evolve the home broadband service model beyond its current rigidity.

Current model: Subscribers purchase broadband plans on monthly or yearly cycles. Network rate limiting is configured as static Committed Access Rate (Committed Access Rate) policies on the Broadband Remote Access Server. All devices behind a subscriber's Customer Premises Equipment receive the same service level. There is no mechanism for per-device or per-application differentiation, and no way to purchase temporary or usage-based service upgrades.
Proposed model: The acceleration service introduces dynamic, on-demand subscription alongside the base broadband plan. Subscribers (or their agents) can purchase acceleration resources in flexible units:

Time-based: Purchase N hours of premium acceleration for a specific agent. Volume-based: Purchase N gigabytes of accelerated traffic. Event-driven: Activate acceleration for the duration of a specific event (e.g., a video conference). This model enables personalized, differentiated services that are not possible with the current static plan structure. The Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server tracks acceleration resource consumption per agent and enforces limits (time expiry, volume exhaustion), providing the foundation for flexible billing and service management.

Interaction Flows This section describes the complete interaction sequences among the four entities. These flows are the core of the framework.

Acceleration Registration The following sequence describes how an agent requests and obtains acceleration service. Prerequisites: The agent has obtained an IPv6 address through standard DHCPv6 from the Customer Premises Equipment. The Customer Premises Equipment has completed IP over Ethernet authentication with the Broadband Remote Access Server. The subscriber session is active.

In Step 3c, the Broadband Remote Access Server determines the subscriber identity by matching the agent's source IPv6 address against the Prefix Delegation table. This table, already maintained by the Broadband Remote Access Server for standard operations, maps each delegated prefix to a subscriber session. Since the agent's IPv6 address falls within the subscriber's delegated prefix, this lookup yields the subscriber identity without any new mechanism. In Step 4, if authorization fails (e.g., the subscriber has not purchased acceleration services, or the Agent-ID is not registered), the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server returns a negative response and the Broadband Remote Access Server informs the agent that the request is denied. The agent's traffic continues to receive the subscriber's default (non-accelerated) service.

Acceleration in Effect Once the policy is installed, the agent's data traffic receives differentiated service as it traverses the Broadband Remote Access Server. The Broadband Remote Access Server data plane may identify distinct Agents either via IPv6 addresses or via an IPv6 extension header carrying an Agent ID. The former approach has the benefit of requiring no modifications to the data plane, while the latter enables direct binding between Agent IDs and service policies. Non-agent traffic (from devices that have not registered for acceleration) continues to receive the subscriber's default Quality of Service policy, unaffected by the acceleration service. The Broadband Remote Access Server continuously tracks resource consumption (elapsed time, traffic volume) for each active acceleration session. When a resource limit is reached (time expires or volume exhausted), the Broadband Remote Access Server automatically removes the Quality of Service policy and notifies both the agent and the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server, as described in .

Acceleration Release Acceleration service terminates through three mechanisms: agent-initiated release, resource exhaustion, and timeout. The following sequence describes the complete release flow.

Release triggers in detail: Agent-initiated: The agent invokes the SKILL's release_acceleration function when it no longer needs acceleration (e.g., task completed). The SKILL sends a release request to the Broadband Remote Access Server, triggering the full flow above. Resource exhaustion: The Broadband Remote Access Server data plane continuously updates resource counters. When the authorized duration expires or the authorized traffic volume is consumed, the Broadband Remote Access Server Control Plane Agent automatically initiates the release sequence internally (Step 1 is skipped; processing begins at Step 2). The agent is notified via the Release Ack with the release reason set to "resource exhausted". Timeout: If the Broadband Remote Access Server observes no traffic from the agent for a configurable inactivity period AND has not received any update from the agent, the session is considered stale and is released. This prevents resource leakage from agents that disconnect abruptly. In all cases, the Broadband Remote Access Server sends a final Accounting-Request to the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting server (Step 3), ensuring that usage records are complete regardless of how the session was terminated.

BRAS-AAA Protocol Extension Considerations Both RADIUS and Diameter are deployed as Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting protocols in home broadband access networks. Different operators adopt different protocols based on their network architecture. The acceleration service requires incremental extensions to both. Authorization: The CoA exchange (RADIUS) or its Diameter equivalent requires new attributes to carry: Agent-ID Agent Service Level (requested and authorized) Agent Action (register, deregister, Dis/Enable Acceleration) Resource limits (duration, volume) Accounting: Existing Accounting-Request messages require new attributes for per-agent usage: Agent traffic counters (input/output octets) Agent session duration Release reason A compound identifier to correlate agent records with the parent subscriber session These are additive attributes within existing message types. No new commands are defined. Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting servers that do not recognize the new attributes ignore them per standard protocol behavior.

Security Considerations Security considerations for this framework are deferred to companion specifications. The following areas are identified for future analysis: Agent identity spoofing in acceleration requests. Data plane impersonation (IPv6 source address spoofing within the home network). Broadband Remote Access Server endpoint exposure and control channel security. Credential lifecycle management (issuance, rotation, revocation).

IANA Considerations This document is a framework and does not define new protocol elements. Companion specifications will include appropriate IANA registration requests.