Scalable QoS Provisioning and Service Node Selection in Relay Based Cellular Networks

The increasing popularity of wireless communications and the different QoS requirements of new types of service lead to higher demands on cellular mobile networks. With central control and multi-hop communication, relay based cellular networks are seen as an effective way to meet users´ increased bit rate requirements while still retaining the benefits of a cellular structure. However, the more complex architecture and topology make the provision of optimal QoS more challenging. The objective of this paper is to illustrate an effective and efficient approach for scalable QoS provision in relay based cellular networks. Primary concerns are, firstly, the selection of the node to service the mobile user with QoS that guarantees the time delay requirement for multimedia services and eliminates bottleneck links; and secondly, the choice of the optimal slot allocation scheme that optimizes the radio resource allocation to maximize user satisfaction level and balance the QoS requirement. The performance evaluations use a Mobile WiMAX network.