Game-theoretic pricing for video streaming in mobile networks

Mobile phones are among the most popular consumer devices, and the recent developments of 3G networks and smart phones enable users to watch video programs by subscribing data plans from service providers. Due to the ubiquity of mobile phones and phone-to-phone communication technologies, data-plan subscribers can redistribute the video content to nonsubscribers. Such a redistribution mechanism is a potential competitor for the mobile service provider and is very difficult to trace given users' high mobility. The service provider has to set a reasonable price for the data plan to prevent such unauthorized redistribution behavior to protect or maximize his/her own profit. In this paper, we analyze the optimal price setting for the service provider by investigating the equilibrium between the subscribers and the secondary buyers in the content-redistribution network. We model the behavior between the subscribers and the secondary buyers as a noncooperative game and find the optimal price and quantity for both groups of users. Based on the behavior of users in the redistribution network, we investigate the evolutionarily stable ratio of mobile users who decide to subscribe to the data plan. Such an analysis can help the service provider preserve his/her profit under the threat of the redistribution networks and can improve the quality of service for end users.     

An adaptive Paris Metro Pricing scheme for mobile data networks

Because static pricing models (such as flat‐rate or tiered‐rate models) cannot improve user utility for subscribers and ease network congestion for operators during peak time, Smart Data Pricing has become an important incentive for mobile data markets. Paris Metro Pricing (PMP), which is a static pricing mode inspired by the pricing model for the Paris metro system, uses differentiated prices to motivate users to choose different train classes. Before choosing a class, people will consider their expected quality of service versus the prices that they are willing to pay. Even though PMP cannot guarantee the actual quality of service during service time, a balance between users' utilities and operators' revenue is achieved. In this paper, we propose an adaptive PMP scheme, so‐called APMP, which determines the dynamic access prices of different classes for the next 24 h. The accessible prices should try to increase the revenue while operators can serve more subscribers. Our simulation results show that APMP can significantly improve total revenue and average revenue per user for the operator. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

全球移动蜂窝通信的革命

近年来，移动蜂窝通信的发展速度可谓骇世惊人。１９９０年，移动用户有１１００万，到１９９８年底达到了３亿多个。据预测，在今后１０年中移动蜂窝用户数将超过固定电话。本文研究了全球移动蜂窝通信的发展状况，就技术革命、服务提供、管制、接入、价格以及发展前途等方面进行了详细的论述。     

A Unified Approach for Improving QoS and Provider Revenue in 3G Mobile Networks

In this paper, we introduce a unified approach for the adaptive control of 3G mobile networks in order to improve both quality of service (QoS) for mobile subscribers and to increase revenue for service providers. The introduced approach constantly monitors QoS measures as packet loss probability and the current number of active mobile users during operation of the network. Based on the values of the QoS measures just observed, the system parameters of the admission controller and packet scheduler are controlled by the adaptive performance management entity. Considering UMTS, we present performance curves showing that handover failure probability is improved by more than one order of magnitude. Moreover, the packet loss probability can be effectively regulated to a predefined level and provider revenue is significantly increased for all pricing policies.     

A study of mobile number portability effects in the United States

Drawing on a sample of 684 mobile subscribers in the US, this study investigates the effect of mobile number portability (MNP) by focusing on subscribers’ perceptions and behaviors on MNP. The FCC mandated number portability to wireless carriers for customer benefits through increased competition in the industry. Statistical analyses in this study reveal, however, subscribers perceive switching barrier is still high, discouraging subscribers from switching carriers. Carriers develop new subscriber lock-in strategies that make subscribers stay with current carriers. In addition, there are other hidden costs despite MNP that subscribers should burden with number portaling. In all, MNP is upheld by subscribers’ burden not carriers and not regulators, which partly explains the low number of switching subscribers under MNP. The findings imply that MNP has more directly affected the industries to a greater extent than subscribers, which suggests implications for both regulators and industries; how to effectively enforce MNP to achieve the intended goals and how to achieve competitive advantage with MNP.     

中国未来编号框架的研究

随着电信业务和用户的不断发展,如何为新业务预留号码资源,3G用户将采用何种编号方式。固定移动号码在结构上容量比例不协调如何处理,这些问题都对我国原有的编号框架提出了挑战。本文结合国外编号现状及长远规划,对我国编号计划面临的问题进行了分析和论证,提出了我国未采编号计划框架的建议,即打开首位为“0”的应用,作为移动号码或将来开展业务使用;移动网仍采用网号、固定网仍采用局号方式的建议。     

移动通信位置管理信令开销及位置区设计优化

指出了位置区设计方案在移动通信网络规划中的重要性，分析了各参数对于位置管理信令开销的作用。同时探讨了位置区及路由区范围、形状等参数变化对不同特征用户群的位置管理信令开销的影响。由此总结出如何针对不同用户特征设计合理位置区的基本原则。     

Wireless link state-aware H.264 MGS coding-based mobile IPTV system over WiMAX network

This paper presents a simple but effective architecture for the transmission of H.264 MGS coding-based IPTV stream over WiMAX network. The proposed system is implemented to provide more subscribers with an enhanced mobile IPTV service considering their wireless link states. In the proposed system, the base layer of the IPTV stream is transmitted with the sparsest modulation scheme and the lowest coding rate to provide IPTV service of minimum quality to as many subscribers as possible. And some parts of the enhancement layer are transmitted with the modulation scheme and the coding rate adaptive to wireless link states of subscribers. Basically, we pursue an efficient tradeoff between the number of subscribers that receive the enhancement layer stream and their IPTV service quality. Finally, experimental results are provided to show the performance of the proposed system.     

中国移动通信终端市场的需求与供给

根据实际数据和统计学原理对当前和未来中国移动通信终端市场的需求和供给进行了分析。分析结果表明，预期的中国移动用户的饱和时间大约是2014年，饱和时的普及率是69．7％，移动用户总数是9．1亿，届时手机的年需求量将达到4．5亿部。分析也表明，1999～2006年“黑手机”所占市场份额为29％，而且有增长的趋势。     

BOSS主机及存储建设模型分析

本文根据某省公司用户增长数据,提出移动用户增长预测模型;根据某省公司BOSS主机TPCC和CPU利用率数据,提出主机建设模型;根据某省公司BOSS主机话单和存储建设数据,提出存储建设模型.     

A cross-domain framework for designing healthcare mobile applications mining social networks to generate recommendations of training and nutrition planning

Nowadays, people are practicing physical exercise in order to maintain good health conditions. Such physical workouts are required by a plan, which should be designed and supervised by sport specialists and medical assistants. Thus, the exercise sessions shall start with consultation of a coach, doctor and dietician; however, many times this scenario is not presented. In typical activities such as running, cycling and fitness, people use health mobile apps with their smartphones, which offer support for these activities. Nevertheless, the functionality and operation of these applications are isolated, because many and long questionnaires are performed. Additionally, the physical and health state of a user is not considered. These issues would be taken into account for determining recommendations about the time for doing exercise and the kind of activity for each person. In this work, a social semantic mobile framework to generate recommendations where a mobile application allows sensing the physical performance, taking into consideration medical criteria with smartphones is proposed. The approach includes a semantic cross-information that comes from social network and official data as well as sport activities and medical knowledge. This knowledge is translated into application ontologies related directly to health, nutrition and training domains. The methodology also covers physical fitness tests and a monitoring tool for evaluating the nutrition plan and the correct execution of the training. As case study, the mobile application offers to evaluate the physical and health conditions of a runner, automatically generate a nutrition plan and training, monitor plans and recomputed them if users make changes in their routines. The data provided from the social network are used as feedback in the application, in order to make the training and nutrition plans more flexible by applying spatio-temporal analysis based on machine learning. Finally, the generated training and nutrition plans were validated by specialists, they have demonstrated 82% of effectiveness rate in exercise training routines and 86% in nutrition plans. In addition, the results were compared with isolated approaches and manual recommendations made by specialists, the obtained overall performance was 81%.     

Effect of mobile terminal heterogeneity on call blocking/dropping probability in cooperative heterogeneous cellular networks

It is envisaged that next generation wireless networks (NGWN) will be heterogeneous, consisting of multiple radio access technologies (RATs) coexisting in the same geographical area. In these heterogeneous wireless networks, mobile terminals of different capabilities (heterogeneous terminals) will be used by subscribers to access network services. We investigate the effect of using heterogeneous mobile terminals (e.g. single-mode, dual-mode, triple-mode, etc.) on call blocking and call dropping probabilities in cooperative heterogeneous wireless networks. We develop analytical models for heterogeneous mobile terminals and joint radio resource management in heterogeneous wireless networks. Using a two-class three-RAT heterogeneous wireless network as an example, the effect of using heterogeneous terminals in the network is evaluated. Results show the overall call blocking/dropping probability experienced by subscribers in heterogeneous wireless networks depends on the capabilities of mobile terminals used by the subscribers. In the worst case scenario, when all subscribers use single-mode mobile terminals, each subscriber is confined to a single RAT and consequently, joint radio resource management in heterogeneous wireless network has no improvement on new call blocking and handoff call dropping probabilities. However, in the best case scenario, when all subscribers use three-mode terminals, new class-1 call blocking probability decreases from 0.37 (for 100% single-mode terminals) to 0.05, at the arrival rate of 6 calls per minute. New class-2 call blocking probability also decreases from 0.8 to 0.52. Similarly, handoff class-1 call dropping probability decreases from 0.14 to 0.003, and handoff class-2 call dropping probability decreases from 0.44 to 0.09.     

Adaptive power allocation and call admission control in multiservice WiMAX access networks [Radio Resource Management and Protocol Engineering for IEEE 802.16]

To achieve a successful broadband wireless access solution, the IEEE 802.16 subcommittee has released a series of standards for WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access). From a technical viewpoint, WiMAX is a feasible alternative to the wired Internet access solutions such as cable modem and DSL. Nevertheless, from the commercial viewpoint, whether the promise of WiMAX will be materialized still depends on its revenue rate to telecom operators and its service quality to the subscribers. In such a context, this article addresses two resource management mechanisms in WiMAX access networks, that is, adaptive power allocation (APA) and call admission control (CAC), from the perspectives of both service providers and WiMAX subscribers. APA emphasizes how to share the limited power resource of base station among different WiMAX subscribers and further influences the access bandwidth of each subscriber; CAC highlights how to assign a subscriber's access bandwidth to different types of applications. Moreover, to build a WiMAX access network, APA and CAC have to work cooperatively to provide cross-layer resource management. In this article we focus on the OFDMA-TDD system, which allows high spectrum-utility efficiency on uplink and downlink channels in the asymmetric scenario of "lastmile" Internet access. We conclude the article with an optimization strategy to balance service provider's revenue and subscriber's satisfaction     

基于移动通信和传感网融合的移动物联网

能够提供更高数据率的4G网络已经在全球开始部署。但由于用户数量增长饱和,ARPU值不降反升,难以提高运营商的盈利能力。通过移动通信和传感网的结合,可以开拓一个巨大的移动物联网市场,增加大量的＂机器终端＂,同时实现移动通信技术向社会生活的各个领域渗透,从而保持通信产业的持续快速发展。     

EGPRS背景下的新型无线组网方案

随着国内大部分地区EGPRS功能的开启,移动用户的数据业务速率获得飞跃。本文首先分析了影~NEGPRS性能表现的无线资源瓶颈,接着引入了一种新型的无线组网方案作为改进,并通过南京地区的实际运用论述了该方案的可行性及可推广性。     

Capturing consumers’ experiences of unsolicited mobile advertising

The increasing numbers of telecoms subscribers in Nigeria and the concomitant spate of mobile advertising suggest that the time is ripe to begin to pay research attention to this area. Newspaper and anecdotal evidence in Nigeria suggest that consumers view such advertisements pejoratively since they are usually unsolicited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to use phenomenological design and semi-structured interviews to empirically examine consumers’ experiences as recipients of unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising and efforts they have made thus far in addressing the issue. Twelve mobile subscribers (six males and six females) within the ages of 25 and 49 years participated in the study. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that consumers are generally resentful about unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising. They may, however, be receptive to such advertising depending on whether they are informative and entertaining, permitted, and personalised to suit their mood, time, and context. Also, some consumers have not attempted to address the issue of unsolicited phone call-based mobile advertising whereas those that have tried before are reluctant in doing so again since previous attempts were unsuccessful. The implications of these findings to consumer satisfaction in telecoms sector in Nigeria were discussed. It was recommended that telecoms network operators in Nigeria should allow consumers to make their own choice and also consider consumers’ personal interests and preferences when designing mobile advertisements.     

Lowering customer’s switching cost using B2B services for telecommunication companies

A B2B transaction is a transaction between organizations. However, the ripple effects of a B2B transaction can reach the members of the organization and generate additional economic impact. Enterprise LTE (Long term evolution) is a newly introduced B2B service in the South Korean telecommunications market. While it provides secure and fast telecommunications services to businesses, it can also affect the employees’ utility in the business, since the service provider can provide a variety of additional services to employees who use the same telecommunications provider for their mobile devices. In this study, we empirically analyze how B2B and Enterprise LTE services affect consumer churn-in in the telecommunications market. We estimate consumer benefit based on the additional services provided after the introduction of the B2B service using conjoint analysis. We also estimate consumer switching cost for changing one’s mobile telecommunications service provider using contingent valuation method. By comparing these values, we analyze the switching probability of employees when B2B services are introduced at their workplace. The results show that in order to maximize revenue, considering the revenue gained from new subscribers and from fees for providing additional services, lowering service fees for additional services and maximizing market share are advisable.     

数字电视增值业务——数字电视短消息系统

通过手机短信、Internet网页、双向机顶盒3种方式中的任意组合进行内容接入，在单向广播网络（或双向）中实现与频道内容相关的互动功能，实现广告投放者、数字电视运营者、数字电视观众的多赢。     

Development of the Base Station Controller and Manager in the CDMA Mobile System

The base station (BS) in the CDMA Mobile System (CMS) connects calls through the radio interface and is designed to provide mobile subscribers with high quality service in spite of mobile subscribers’ motions. The BS consists of multiple base station transceiver subsystems (BTSs), a base station controller (BSC) and a base station manager (BSM). This paper is concerned with the BSC and the BSM. The BSC is located between the BTSs and the mobile switching center (MSC) connected with the public network, and is responsible for controlling mobile calls from and to mobile subscribers via the BTSs. The BSM provides operator-interfaces per the BS and takes responsibility of operation and maintenance (OAM) of the BS. Design of the BSC is based on two module types: functional module and unit module. The functional module is used to support new services easily and the unit module to increase the system capacity economically. Both modular types are easily achieved by inserting the corresponding modules to the system. Particularly, in order to efficiently support the soft handover which is one of CDMA superior advantages, the BSC adopts a large high-speed packet switch connecting up to 512 BTSs, and thus mobile subscribers can be provided with soft handover in high probability. The BSM is based on a commercial workstation to support OAM functions efficiently and guarantee high reliability of the functions. The BSM uses graphical user interface (GUI) for efficient OAM functions of the BS.     

Choosing a wrong mobile communication price plan: An empirical analysis of predictors of the degree of tariff misfit among flat rate subscribers in Germany

Worldwide, more and more users of mobile communication services (MCS) are in tariffs which decouple the level of customer usage of one or several MCS (voice calls, Internet access, SMS) from the fixed monthly charge of mobile network operators (MNOs). However, consumers may inappropriately subscribe to such a flat rate because other usage-dependent price schemes are available which more closely match with their MCS use patterns. Surprisingly, little research has examined how the degree of consumer tariff misfit is correlated with socio-demographic, contract-, MCS-usage- and device-related subscriber characteristics. The present paper analyzes such associations. We develop two volume-based measures of the degree of tariff misfit in a sample of 1,274 subscribers of an MNO in Germany who had switched into a “grand flat rate” which includes unlimited national call minutes, mobile Internet traffic as well as national SMS. We find that the degree of tariff misfit is significantly higher among subscribers who are older, live in West Germany, have a longer MNO tenure, have larger monthly usage volume variations of voice calls, mobile Internet and SMS and are equipped with a device which is not an Apple iPhone. Implications of the results are discussed for MNO practitioners and for future scholarly work.