Utilizing buffered YouTube playtime for QoE-oriented scheduling in OFDMA networks

With the introduction of 4th generation mobile networks, applications such as high-quality video streaming to the end user becomes possible. However, the expected demand for such services outpaces the capacity increase of the networks. Since there is mostly a capacity bottleneck in the air interface between a base station and user equipment, one of the main challenges for radio resource management is therefore to enforce precise quality guarantees for users with high expectations on service quality. We consider, in this paper, an OFDMA access network with YouTube users, and address the challenge of improving the quality of experience (QoE) of a dedicated user by utilizing the buffered playtime of a YouTube video for scheduling. The advantage of this approach is that scheduling is done according to the instantaneous throughput requirement of the end user application, and not by the network by maintaining average quality-of-service (QoS) parameters. The paper describes the concept and provides a simulative evaluation of the approach in an LTE network to demonstrate the benefits.