User Satisfaction Based Resource Allocation in Future Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

The widespread use of heterogeneous wireless network technologies and their integration with multi-mode terminals enable users to be associated to the best available networks according to user preferences and application specific requirements. We study a user-centric quality of experience based resource allocation problem with several operators, several types of users and different classes of services. We propose a framework for future short term user-operator contractual vision. We also study the equilibrium solution for the mentioned problem using a game-theoretic approach. Based on experimental measurements, we formulate the utility functions for the users and the operators. Our results are validated through OPNET simulations for different service classes including FTP, VoIP and Video streaming over Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) technologies. We also implement the IPv6 based flow management for congestion avoidance at inter-operator level, and study the performance of various splitting and non-splitting approaches.