Reducing dropped calls for prioritised services in next generation multimedia networks

This paper presents experiments carried out in bandwidth reservation using the Mobile Multimedia Network Simulator (MMNS) developed at Queen´s University. In these experiments, very small cells (picocells) are considered as a worst case scenario in next generation systems. Fixed post-reservation schemes are performed in the picocellular layer, while dynamic schemes may be performed in the overlaid (microcell and macrocell) layers. These bandwidth reservation schemes are implemented in order to minimise dropped calls for real-time users in a highly loaded environment where wideband traffic is dominant. The reservation schemes presented are easy to implement and keep the amount of processing and signalling in each wireless access point to a minimum. The simulation results show that reserving up to 10% bandwidth for specific wideband traffic classes results in an optimal reduction of dropped calls while at the same time minimises the effect on all other traffic classes