What will DiffServ provide?

DiffServ defines how traffic is classified and marked, but scheduling techniques (like WFQ, LLQ) are mechanisms that use the DiffServ markings to prioritize traffic, rather than being what DiffServ provides itself.

Differentiated Services (DiffServ) is fundamentally about classifying network traffic. It provides a mechanism to mark IP packets with a Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value, which indicates the per-hop behavior (PHB) that the packet should receive. This classification allows network devices to identify and treat different types of traffic (e.g., voice, video, data) according to their specific QoS requirements.

Similar to scheduling, queuing mechanisms (like FIFO, PQ, CQ) are tools that implement the per-hop behaviors defined by DiffServ, not what DiffServ itself provides as its primary function.

While DiffServ enables service differentiation, its direct provision is the classification of traffic through DSCP marking, which then leads to differentiation; service differentiation is the goal or outcome of using DiffServ, not its direct provision.