  Congestion control protocol and bandwidth allocation problems are often
formulated into Network Utility Maximization (NUM) framework. Existing
solutions for NUM generally focus on single-layered applications. As
applications such as video streaming grow in importance and popularity,
addressing user utility function for these multi-layered multimedia
applications in NUM formulation becomes vital. In this paper, we propose a new
multi-layered user utility model that leverages on studies of human visual
perception and quality of experience (QoE) from the fields of computer graphics
and human computer interaction (HCI). Using this new utility model to
investigate network activities, we demonstrate that solving NUM with
multi-layered utility is intractable, and that rate allocation and network
pricing may oscillate due to user behavior specific to multi-layered
applications. To address this, we propose a new approach for admission control
to ensure quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE).
