Quantifying QoS in Heterogeneous Networks

The heterogeneous-based 4G wireless networks will offer noticeable advantages for both users and network operators. The users will benefit from the vibrant coverage and capacity. A vast number of available resources will allow them to connect seamlessly to the best available access technology. The network operators, on the other hand, will be benefited from the lower cost and the efficient usage of the network resources. However, managing QoS for video or voice applications over these networks is still a challenging task. In this chapter, a generalized metric-based approach is described for QoS quantification in Heterogeneous networks. To investigate the efficiency of the designed approach, a range of simulation studies based on different models of service over the heterogeneous networks are carried out. The simulation results indicate that the proposed approach facilitates better management and monitoring of heterogeneous network configurations and applications utilizing them.

Streaming Coded Video in P2P Networks

This chapter discusses the state of the art in dealing with the resource optimization problem for smooth delivery of video across a peer to peer (P2P) network. It further discusses the properties of using different video coding techniques such as Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and Multiple Descriptive Coding (MDC) to overcome the playback latency in multimedia streaming and maintains an adequate quality of service (QoS) among the users. The problem can be summarized as follows; Given that a video is requested by a peer in the network, what properties of SVC and MDC can be exploited to deliver the video with the highest quality, least upload bandwidth and least delay from all participating peers. However, the solution to these problems is known to be NP hard. Hence, this chapter presents the state of the art in approximation algorithms or techniques that have been proposed to overcome these issues.

Quality of Experience (QoE) for Wireless Video Over Critical Communication Systems

Video streaming is expected to acquire a massive share of the global internet traffic in the near future. Meanwhile, it is expected that most of the global traffic will be carried over wireless networks. This trend translates into considerable challenges for Service Providers (SP) in terms of maintaining consumers' Quality of Experience (QoE), energy consumption, utilisation of wireless resources, and profitability. However, the majority of Radio Resource Allocation (RRA) algorithms only consider enhancing Quality of Service (QoS) and network parameters. Since this approach may end up with unsatisfied customers in the future, it is essential to develop innovative RRA algorithms that adopt a user-centric approach based on users' QoE. This chapter focus on wireless video over Critical communication systems that are inspired by QoE perceived by end users. This chapter presents a background to introduce the reader to this area, followed by a review of the related up-to-date literature.

Security in Mission Critical Communication Systems

This chapter introduces two different algorithms to detect intrusions in mission critical communication systems to guarantee their security. The first algorithm is a classification algorithm which applies the concept of supervised learning. The second algorithm is a clustering algorithm which applies the concept of unsupervised learning. The algorithms detect intrusions using a set of detection rules that are structured in the form of decision trees. The algorithms are described in details and their results on well-known dataset are introduced. An enhancement for the J48algorithm is also introduced, where the decision tree for the algorithm is changed to a binary tree. The change enhances the complexity to reach a decision. The chapter includes a brief introduction about the security in Mission critical systems and the reason behind securing such systems. It introduces different methodologies that were introduced to detect intrusions in wireless communications.

QoE-Driven Efficient Resource Utilisation for Video Over Critical Communication Systems

Research in network resource utilisation introduced several techniques for more efficient power and bandwidth consumption. The majority of these techniques, however, were based on Quality of Service (QoS) and network parameters. Therefore, in this study a different approach is taken to investigate the possibility of a more efficient resource utilisation if resources are distributed based on users' Quality of Experience (QoE), in the context of 3D video transmission over WiMAX access networks. In particular, this study suggests a QoE-driven technique to identify the operational regions (bounds) for Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS). A mobile 3D video transmission is simulated, through which the correlation between receiver's Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and perceived video quality is identified. The main conclusions drawn from the study demonstrate that a considerable saving in signal power and bandwidth can be achieved in comparison to QoS-based techniques.

Advanced Retransmission Protocols for Critical Wireless Communications

This chapter provides background about Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) protocols. First, the critical situations that may be faced by wireless communication systems especially cellular mobile technologies in case of very noisy radio channels are introduced. Particularly, the chapter introduces the HARQ protocols, their main constituent components as well as some related application areas. Then, the state-of-the-art of HARQ protocols is presented. The next section explains the three basic ARQ protocols. Then, the different HARQ types are detailed. Then, a mathematical model of type II HARQ based on Rayleigh fading channel is provided. This analytical analysis is followed by a discussion of the throughput which is one of the most interesting metrics used to measure the performance of HARQ systems. The readers can find in the next section a description of the HARQ systems architecture where 3GPP LTE is used to illustrate and explain how such systems operate. Finally, the last section concludes the chapter.

Ultra-High-Definition Video Transmission for Mission-Critical Communication Systems Applications

With the standardization of ultra-high-definition formats and their increasing adoption within the multimedia industry, it has become vital to investigate how such a resolution could impact the quality of experience with respect to mission-critical communication systems. While this standardization enables improved perceptual quality of video content, how it can be used in mission-critical communications remains a challenge, with the main challenge being processing. This chapter discusses the challenges and potential solutions for the deployment of ultra-high-definition video transmission for mission-critical applications. In addition, it examines the state-of-the-art solutions for video processing and explores potential solutions. Finally, the authors predict future research directions in this area.

Session Initiation and IP Multimedia Subsystem Performance Evaluation

In this chapter analyses the overall system capacity and scalability which is affected by added traffic introduced by more users who are trying to access the system provided services. This could happen in a mission critical communication system during natural disaster or large scale attack, where the system accessibility could be affected due to the sudden increase of number of users. The need for a more detailed study of other SIP and IMS KPIs is vital to have a better understanding of the overall system performance which will enable us to take it a step further toward system performance enhancement and optimization to avoid single point of failure of the system.

IP Multimedia Subsystem and SIP Signaling Performance Metrics

In this chapter, the most important protocols that controls the operation of the end-to-end system and has implications on the overall performance aspects will be presented. Then, performance issues will be demonstrated. the performance issues and the challenge of enhancing SIP services performance will be highlighted and briefly discussed. The protocol related performance metrics will be identified to determine the way SIP is utilizing the system resources and how to maximize it. Moreover, the architectural design challenges will be targeted to enhance the SIP performance.

Introduction to Mission Critical Systems and Its Requirements

In this chapter, the definition of Mission Critical Systems, users, and services will be introduced, then main applications of such system will be listed, the general requirements will be investigated, and finally a distinction between different types of Mission Critical Systems will be briefly discussed. Nowadays, many governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play critical roles in its operations on everyday basis. The services provided by such organization is of special nature that makes it less tolerant to executional or operational errors; such services are referred as Mission Critical Services. The criticality of the service implies that it has a set of special requirements that distinguish it from other services, and it should be available anytime, anywhere within the service operational scope, and also it is supposed to be functioning within expectation limits regardless of the operational circumstances or running conditions.