A Packet Loss Reduction Scheduling Scheme With Cross-layer Design for OFDM Downlinks

In this paper, we develop a cross-layer approach of downlink scheduling for OFDM systems, aiming at minimizing the packet loss rate. We propose a resource allocation strategy at the MAC layer which dynamically allocates time slots and subcarriers to different users to maximize the number of leaving packets per frame. By adaptively selecting system parameters such as target BER in AMC controller, our theoretical framework provides an approach to minimize the average packet lose rate, optimizing the steady-state statistical system performance. We also develop a simple method to reduce the packet loss, which is a good tradeoff between performance and complexity. Numerical simulation results confirm our theoretical analysis and demonstrate a significant performance gain for our cross-layer optimization.