QoE-driven bandwidth allocation method based on user characteristics

Abstract

Network providers are nowadays facing with a big question in allocating network resources due to the constantly increasing of Internet services. While the network resource is not unlimited, users always desire the best quality of experience (QoE) with the huge information exchange. Therefore, finding a justice of network resource allocation based on the user experience is mandatory. In previous studies, network resources were allocated to all users by using a specific utility function without considering the user characteristics. In fact, the network resource consumptions are very different among individual users and directly depend on users' behavior. For instance, the network demands of relax users are usually lower than those of busy users. Thus, allocating the same amount of resources to all users might not meet their expectations. In this paper, we propose two bandwidth allocation methods by classifying users into different groups based on their characteristics such as relax, short-time busy, and long-time busy users. To allocate the bandwidth in each group, specific utility functions are applied. By using these methods, the obtained results show that users get the different allocated bandwidth while they still experience the same level of QoE. On the other hand, the allocation considers users' behavior to allocate suitable bandwidth based on the real resource consumption of users. As a result from these analyses, our proposal tends toward a fair allocation as well as an efficient management of the network resources.