Playout buffer aware scheduling scheme for video streaming over LTE networks

Due to the time-varying feature of the wireless channel, the video playout process could be interrupted, which is caused by the underflow of the playout buffer in UE. In this paper, a Playout Buffer Aware scheduling scheme(PBA) is proposed to improve the playout continuity of the video streaming services over LTE networks. First of all, an UE classification method is proposed to accurately distinguish the UEs´ urgency. And then, we analyze the UEs´ playout status and define the dynamic minimum rate requirement for one UE to guarantee its playout continuity. Based on the analysis, a novel scheduling metric is proposed which comprehensively consider the buffer occupancy, the channel quality and the minimum rate requirement. With the new metric, the scheme can keep the UEs´ playout buffer occupancy in an acceptable level, so as to guarantee the user experience. Finally, the performance of PBA is evaluated in a LTE platform based on the event-driven network simulation software NS3. The simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm can effectively improve the user experience.