QoE‐ and energy‐efficient resource optimization in OFDMA networks with bidirectional relaying

Because of the surging demands of multimedia services, quality‐of‐experience (QoE) is becoming an important metric to evaluate network quality from users' perspective. In this paper, resource optimisation to achieve optimal tradeoff between QoE and energy consumption in bidirectional orthogonal frequency‐division multiple‐access relaying networks is addressed so as to provide satisfactory multimedia delivery quality and support green communications. We first formulate a QoE‐energy efficiency tradeoff optimisation where QoE requirements and relaying traffic balance are considered and prove that QoE‐energy efficiency is quasiconcave on QoE, which suggests the existence of a unique global optimal tradeoff point. We then propose an optimisation framework to achieve the optimal tradeoff efficiently. With the framework, we develop resource allocation approaches for two specific relaying strategies, that is, two‐phase decode‐and‐forward relaying with dynamic XOR network coding and compute‐and‐forward relaying with physical network coding via structured codes. Numerical results validate theoretical findings and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimisation solution for achieving the tradeoff between QoE and energy consumption. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scheduling flows over LEO constellations on LMS channels

Satellite systems typically use physical and link layer reliability schemes to compensate the significant channel impairments, especially for the link between a satellite and a mobile end‐user. These schemes have been introduced at the price of an increase in the end‐to‐end delay, high jitter, or out‐of‐order packets. This is shown to have a negative impact both on multimedia and best‐effort traffic, decreasing the Quality of Experience (QoE) of users. In this paper, we propose to solve this issue by scheduling data transmission as a function of the channel condition. We first investigate existing scheduling mechanisms and analyze their performance for two kinds of traffic: VoIP and best‐effort. In the case of VoIP traffic, the objective is to lower both latency and jitter, which are the most important metrics to achieve a consistent VoIP service. We select the best candidate among several schedulers and propose a novel algorithm specifically designed to carry VoIP over LEO constellations. We then investigate the performance of the scheduling policies on internet‐browsing traffic carried by TCP, where the goal is now the maximize the users' goodput and select the best candidate in this case.     

Contention‐free approaches for WiFi MAC design for VoIP services: performance analysis and comparison

The exponential growth in the demand of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services along with the increasing demand for mobility in VoIP services has attracted great research efforts towards provisioning of VoIP services in IEEE 802.11‐based Wireless LANs (WiFi networks). We address one of the important research problems, namely, the quality of service (QoS)‐aware efficient silence suppression in the bursty voice traffic, for provisioning VoIP services in WiFi networks. The research works in the recent literature on silence suppression in voice calls have been surveyed categorising them on how the activity arrival is notified to the access point (AP). In most of the recent schemes, notification of uplink activity arrival is done through contention based medium access mechanisms such as the distributed coordination function (DCF). Contention‐based medium access causes non‐deterministic delays, therefore such schemes are not suited to voice traffic which require strict delay bound guarantees. This paper focuses on the schemes which do not use contention based approaches for silence suppression in voice traffic. Analytical performance evaluation and comparison of such schemes is carried out. Two very important performance metrics are modelled mathematically. One is the expected polling overhead time that the schedulers in these schemes can save per voice call during one voice activity cycle as compared to that in the round‐robin polling scheduler. The other is the expected unnecessary wireless channel access delay that a typical first talk‐spurt frame experiences due to the specific design of each scheme. The numerical results of this evaluation lead us to the conclusion whether or not and to what extent each of these schemes is viable. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Q2ABR: QoE‐aware adaptive video bit rate solution

In this paper, we propose a new adaptive bit rate (ABR) streaming method. This method is based on estimating and monitoring users' video streaming experience, their quality of experience (QoE). This ensures a good user QoE and optimises bandwidth utilisation by monitoring video buffer fill rate to ensure minimal data traffic. First, we achieve a QoE evaluation model based on network bandwidth, video segment representation, and dropped video frame rate parameters. Second, following our QoE evaluation model, we formulate an ABR method using the reinforcement learning (RL) paradigm to select video representations and using a breakpoint detection mechanism to monitor end‐user QoE variation. The proposed ABR method is called “QoE‐aware adaptive bit rate (Q2ABR)” and is composed of three individual modules, one for QoE estimation using machine learning methods, one for QoE variation monitoring using the breakpoint detection mechanism, and one for video representation selection using reinforcement learning. The design objective of Q2ABR is to ensure the overall QoE of these users while maintaining a minimum variation in the standard deviation of the users' QoE values. Third, the performance of the Q2ABR method is evaluated and compared with several existing ABR approaches in the literature using real traces that we collect on different transport scenarios (such as bus and train, among others). Since this method considers the user's perception of video quality as a regulator for optimising the overall video distribution network, good results are ensured in terms of the user's experience and buffer fill rate.     

Performance of delay‐sensitive traffic in multi‐layered satellite IP networks with on‐board processing capability

In this article, performance of delay‐sensitive traffic in multi‐layered satellite Internet Protocol (IP) networks with on‐board processing (OBP) capability is investigated. With OBP, a satellite can process the received data, and according to the nature of application, it can decide on the transmission properties. First, we present a concise overview of relevant aspects of satellite networks to delay‐sensitive traffic and routing. Then, in order to improve the system performance for delay‐sensitive traffic, specifically Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a novel adaptive routing mechanism in two‐layered satellite network considering the network's real‐time information is introduced and evaluated. Adaptive Routing Protocol for Quality of Service (ARPQ) utilizes OBP and avoids congestion by distributing traffic load between medium‐Earth orbit and low‐Earth orbit layers. We utilize a prioritized queueing policy to satisfy quality‐of‐service (QoS) requirements of delay‐sensitive applications while evading non‐real‐time traffic suffer low performance level. The simulation results verify that multi‐layered satellite networks with OBP capabilities and QoS mechanisms are essential for feasibility of packet‐based high‐quality delay‐sensitive services which are expected to be the vital components of next‐generation communications networks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modulation and coding scheme selection in multimedia broadcast over a single frequency network‐enabled long‐term evolution networks

Long term evolution constitutes the next generation cellular network beyond 3G that is designed to support the explosion in demand for bandwidth‐hungry multimedia services in wireless networks by providing an extremely high performance radio access technology. To support multimedia broadcast/multicast services (MBMS), long term evolution offers the functionality to transmit MBMS over a single frequency network, where a time‐synchronized common waveform is transmitted from multiple cells for a given duration. This enables over‐the‐air combining, thus significantly improving the spectral efficiency (SE) compared with conventional MBMS operations. In MBMS over a single frequency network transmissions, the achieved SE is mainly determined by the modulation and coding scheme selected. This study proposes and evaluates four approaches for the selection of the modulation and coding scheme. Each approach corresponds to different users' distribution and multimedia traffic conditions. On the basis of SE measurements, we determine the approach that either maximizes or achieves a target SE for the corresponding users' distribution and traffic conditions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Skype‐Hunter: A real‐time system for the detection and classification of Skype traffic

In the previous years, Skype has gained more and more popularity, since it is seen as the best VoIP software with good quality of sound, ease of use and one that works everywhere and with every OS. Because of its great diffusion, both the operators and the users are, for different reasons, interested in detecting Skype traffic. In this paper we propose a real‐time algorithm (named Skype‐Hunter) to detect and classify Skype traffic. In more detail, this novel method, by means of both signature‐based and statistical procedures, is able to correctly reveal and classify the signaling traffic as well as the data traffic (calls and file transfers). To assess the effectiveness of the algorithm, experimental tests have been performed with several traffic data sets, collected in different network scenarios. Our system outperforms the ‘classical’ statistical traffic classifiers as well as the state‐of‐the‐art ad hoc Skype classifier. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Software‐defined network‐based prioritization to avoid video freezes in HTTP adaptive streaming

HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) is becoming the de facto standard for video streaming services over the Internet. In HAS, each video is segmented and stored in different qualities. Rate adaptation heuristics, deployed at the client, allow the most appropriate quality level to be dynamically requested, based on the current network conditions. It has been shown that state‐of‐the‐art heuristics perform suboptimal when sudden bandwidth drops occur, therefore leading to freezes in the video playout, the main factor influencing users' quality of experience (QoE). This issue is aggravated in case of live events, where the client‐side buffer has to be kept as small as possible in order to reduce the playout delay between the user and the live signal. In this article, we propose a framework capable of increasing the QoE of HAS clients by reducing video freezes. The framework is based on OpenFlow, a widely adopted protocol to implement the software‐defined networking principle. An OpenFlow controller is in charge of introducing prioritized delivery of HAS segments, based on the network conditions and the HAS clients' status. Particularly, the HAS clients' status is obtained without any explicit clients‐to‐controller communication, and thus, no extra signaling is introduced into the network. Moreover, this OpenFlow controller is transparent to the quality decision process of the clients, as it assists the delivery of the segments, but it does not determine the actual quality to be requested. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the proposed approach, we investigate the performance of the proposed OpenFlow‐based framework in the presence of realistic Internet cross‐traffic. Particularly, we model two types of applications, namely, HTTP web browsing and progressive download video streaming, which currently represent the majority of Internet traffic together with HAS. By evaluating this novel approach through emulation in several multi‐client scenarios, we show how the proposed approach can reduce freeze time for the HAS clients due to network congestion up to 10 times compared with state‐of‐the‐art heuristics, without impacting the performance of the cross‐traffic applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quality of experience (QoE) driven adaptation scheme for?voice/video over IP

Network quality of service (NQoS) of IP networks is unpredictable and impacts the quality of networked multimedia services. Adaptive voice and video schemes are therefore vital for the provision of voice over IP (VoIP) services for optimised quality of experience (QoE). Traditional adaptation schemes based on NQoS do not take perceived quality into consideration even though the user is the best judge of quality. Additionally, uncertainties inherent in NQoS parameter measurements make the design of adaptation schemes difficult and their performance suboptimal. This paper presents a QoE-driven adaptation scheme for voice and video over IP to solve the optimisation problem to provide optimal QoE for networked voice and video applications. The adaptive VoIP architecture was implemented and tested both in NS2 and in an Open IMS Core network to allow extensive simulation and test-bed evaluation. Results show that the scheme was optimally responsive to available network bandwidth and congestion for both voice and video and optimised delivered QoE for different network conditions, and is friendly to TCP traffic.     

SeekStream: adapting to dynamic user behavior in P2P video‐on‐demand

In recent years, the users' perceived quality of experience (QoE) in streaming services has gained a lot of attention. Particularly, a number of research efforts have focused on providing live streaming and video‐on‐demand (VoD) services using peer‐to‐peer (P2P) architectures. However, in these proposed architectures, the heterogeneity of users and their dynamic behavior has not been sufficiently studied. In a real life scenario, where users have highly heterogeneous bandwidth resources (cable, DSL, 3G networks, etc) and can arbitrarily decide to perform a VCR function (stop, fast forward and seeking), ignoring this behavior can significantly deteriorate the system's efficiency and the perceived QoE. In this paper, we present SeekStream, a scalable P2P VoD architecture that ensures the stable delivery of the video stream to every participating user even in cases of high heterogeneity and frequent seeking operations. Specifically, SeekStream is a set of algorithms that optimize the P2P overlay dynamically and in a distributed fashion, making it adaptive to users dynamic behavior and bandwidth changes. The available bandwidth resources of the participating users are optimally exploited, keeping the contribution from the media server(s) to a minimal level. To illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithms, we are using a centralized overlay network manager that discovers the optimal network graph as a reference. We have developed an extensive P2P VoD simulator that shows the efficiency, scalability, and stability of our system under variant and dynamic conditions. The algorithms of our proposed system introduce less than 4% bandwidth overhead while we achieve high offloading of the media server(s). SeekStream guarantees a high block reception rate for the users, even under extreme seeking patterns. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supporting multimedia applications through network redesign

Recent evolutions in high‐performance computing and high speed broadband Internet access have paved a way to enterprise‐wide multimedia applications, which require stern QoS from the underlying networks. In this paper, we have explored threefold studies on existing enterprise network, whereby we proposed an analytical approach to evaluate the performance of the existing network; we have examined the feasibility of existing enterprise networks to accommodate voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services with acceptable QoS, and we have redesigned the enterprise network to accommodate VoIP services to comply with the user defined QoS. The network performance is evaluated by number of VoIP calls sustained by the network, bandwidth utilization, loss rate and latency through Network Simulation (NS‐2) tool. We have derived a cost model to show the cost‐effectiveness of VoIP services over telephonic network. For a medium‐size enterprise network of 200 clients and 9 servers, our simulation results show that the redesign improves the network performance by increasing the number of VoIP calls by 57% and decreasing bandwidth utilization and packet loss rate by 20% and 7%, respectively. Moreover, the proposed network redesign demonstrates that the network can be scalable and it can handle up to 4% increased voice calls in the future maintaining QoS standards. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QoE‐based pseudo heartbeat message compression mechanism for future wireless network

Wireless multimedia services are increasingly becoming popular, which boosts the need for better quality‐of‐experience (QoE). However, there are many aspects leading to the degradation of real‐time video QoE, especially, a large number of always‐on‐line (AOL) applications existing in future wireless networks transmit heartbeat message periodically to keep always‐on, and hence induce heavy signaling costs and overload wireless networks. In this paper, we propose QoE‐based pseudo heartbeat message compression mechanism to reduce the number of signaling loads in the radio access network by intercepting the heartbeat message at a certain frequency in the proxy client. To maintain the protocol feature of the AOL applications, the heartbeat messages are reconstructed by the proxy server and sent to the application server. Furthermore, to analyze the influence of this mechanism on the video user, a new QoE perception model is proposed. Finally, combined the QoE perception model for video services with AOL services, the utility function for joint optimization multi‐services is developed to determine the optimum compression frequency. The simulation results show that the proposed mechanism greatly alleviates the signaling load and leads to a significant performance improvement on the QoE of video users, while a slight decrease in the QoE of AOL users. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An efficient traffic control scheme for store‐and‐forward video‐on‐demand services

According to the MPEG‐1/2 standard, full motion video can be compressed and stored in an information warehouse. Multiplexing with normal voice calls, it is retrieved and delivered to the customer's local BISDN central office via 155 Mb/s trunks. These voice calls have higher priority than video‐on‐demand (VOD) so that normal voice services will not be influenced by VOD transmission. The number of voice calls always fluctuates in real‐time. Thus, an efficient traffic control scheme is highly desired to guarantee a given level of performance and achieve as great as possible use of available bandwidth. Based on the fact that the number of real‐time voice calls is variable, and the use of available capacity is less than 100 per cent, this paper will present an efficient traffic control scheme for store‐and‐forward VOD services, and demonstrate the scheme by various simulation results. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A QoE centric distributed caching approach for vehicular video streaming in cellular networks

Distributed caching‐empowered wireless networks can greatly improve the efficiency of data storage and transmission and thereby the users' quality of experience (QoE). However, how this technology can alleviate the network access pressure while ensuring the consistency of content delivery is still an open question, especially in the case where the users are in fast motion. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the caching issue emerging from a forthcoming scenario where vehicular video streaming is performed under cellular networks. Specifically, a QoE centric distributed caching approach is proposed to fulfill as many users' requests as possible, considering the limited caching space of base stations and basic user experience guarantee. Firstly, a QoE evaluation model is established using verified empirical data. Also, the mathematic relationship between the streaming bit rate and actual storage space is developed. Then, the distributed caching management for vehicular video streaming is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and solved with the generalized–reduced gradient method. Simulation results indicate that our approach can improve the users' satisfaction ratio by up to 40%. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive video streaming testbed design for performance study and assessment of QoE

Hypertext Transfer Protocol adaptive streaming switches between different video qualities, adapting to the network conditions, and avoids stalling streamed frames over high‐oscillation client's throughput improving the users' quality of experience (QoE). Quality of experience has become the most important parameter to lead the service providers to know about the end‐user feedback. Implementing Hypertext Transfer Protocol adaptive streaming applications to find out QoE in real‐life scenarios of vast networks becomes more challenging and complex task regarding to cost, agile, time, and decisions. In this paper, a virtualized network testbed to virtualize various machines to support implementing experiments of adaptive video streaming has been developed. Within the test study, the metrics which demonstrate performance of QoE are investigated, respectively, including initial delay (ie, startup delay at the beginning of playback a video), frequency switches (ie, number of times the quality is changed), accumulative video time (ie, number and length of stalls), CPU usage, and battery energy consumption. Furthermore, the relation between effective parameters of QoS on the aforementioned metrics for different segment length is investigated. Experimental results show that the proposed virtualized system is agile, easy to install and use, and costs less than real testbeds. Moreover, the subjective and objective performance studies of QoE evaluation in the system have proven that the segment lengths of 6 to 8 seconds were faired and more efficient than others according to the investigated parameters.     

VoIP traffic in wireless mesh networks: a MOS‐based routing scheme

Support of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services in wireless mesh networks requires implementation of efficient policies to support low‐delay data delivery. Multipath routing is typically supported in wireless mesh networks at the network level to provide high fault tolerance and load balancing because links in the proximity of the wireless mesh gateways can be very stressed and overloaded, thus causing scarce performance. As a consequence of using multipath solutions, lower delay and higher throughput can be supported also when a given path is broken because of mobility or bad channel conditions, and alternative routes are available. This can be a relevant improvement especially when assuming that real‐time traffic, such as VoIP, travels into the network. In this paper, we address the problem of Quality of Service (QoS) support in wireless mesh networks and propose a multipath routing strategy that exploits the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) metric to select the most suitable paths for supporting VoIP applications and performing adaptive load balancing among the available paths to equalize network traffic. Performance results assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared with other existing methodologies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic pricing for load‐balancing in user‐centric joint call admission control of next‐generation wireless networks

Next‐generation wireless networks (NGWN) will be heterogeneous, comprising of a number of radio access technologies (RATs) co‐existing in the same geographical area. In NGWN, joint call admission control (JCAC) algorithms are required to select the most appropriate RAT for each incoming call. It is envisaged that these JCAC algorithms will be user‐centric (i.e. will consider users' preferences in making RAT selection decisions) in order to enhance user satisfaction. However, user‐centric JCAC algorithms can lead to highly unbalanced traffic load among the available RATs in NGWN because users act independently, and most of them may prefer to be connected through a particular RAT. Highly unbalanced traffic load in NGWN will result in high overall call blocking/dropping probability and poor radio result utilization. To address this problem, we propose dynamic pricing for balancing traffic load among available RATs in heterogeneous wireless networks where users' preferences are considered in making RAT selection decisions. By dynamically adjusting the service price in each of the available RATs, the proposed user‐centric JCAC scheme evens out the unbalanced traffic load caused by independent users' preferences. The JCAC scheme uses fuzzy multiple attribute decision‐making (MADM) technique to select the most appropriate RAT for each incoming call. We develop a Markov model to evaluate the overall call blocking/dropping probability and percentage load in each RAT in heterogeneous wireless networks. Performance of the proposed JCAC scheme is compared with that of a scheme that does not use dynamic pricing. Simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed JCAC scheme. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preserving User Anonymity in Context‐Aware Location‐Based Services: A Proposed Framework

Protecting privacy is an important goal in designing location‐based services. Service providers want to verify legitimate users and allow permitted users to enjoy their services. Users, however, want to preserve their privacy and prevent tracking. In this paper, a new framework providing users with more privacy and anonymity in both the authentication process and the querying process is proposed. Unlike the designs proposed in previous works, our framework benefits from a combination of three important techniques: k‐anonymity, timed fuzzy logic, and a one‐way hash function. Modifying and adapting these existing schemes provides us with a simpler, less complex, yet more mature solution. During authentication, the one‐way hash function provides users with more privacy by using fingerprints of users' identities. To provide anonymous authentication, the concept of confidence level is adopted with timed fuzzy logic. Regarding location privacy, spatial k‐anonymity prevents the users' locations from being tracked. The experiment results and analysis show that our framework can strengthen the protection of anonymity and privacy of users by incurring a minimal implementation cost and can improve functionality.     

Seamless LTE connectivity in high‐speed trains

High‐speed train (HST) is revitalizing the train as a preferred mid‐range transportation system. The provision of broadband Internet connectivity onboard trains is one of the key challenges in the competition among train operators. Unprecedented spectral efficiency and data rates (up to 100Mbps in high mobility) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System long‐term evolution (LTE) are expected to offer the solution for high‐speed Internet access onboard in HSTs. Massive wireless access and frequent handovers (HOs) of a large number of users might potentially cause service interruptions, and this, in turn, degrades intolerably the quality of experience (QoE) of users' onboard Internet access. In this paper, we propose a solution based on distributed antenna system that combines directional and omni‐directional antennas as train‐to‐ground radio‐access terminals (T‐RATs) and LTE femtocells in each carriage. Directional antennas are deployed at both ends of the HST to provide multi‐cell access by diversifying the HOs over multiple LTE cells. This mechanism virtually elongates the train size by connecting the front and rear carriages' T‐RATs to the faraway eNodeBs and augmenting the number of cells the HST can be simultaneously connected to. An ad hoc distributed load‐balancing mechanism that consists in offloading backlogged packets to the on‐service T‐RATs is mandatorily paired with multi‐cell access scheme to tie up with the request of seamless onboard Internet service at high QoE level. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.