Efficient bandwidth utilization guaranteeing QoS over adaptive wireless links

Providing guaranteed quality of service (QoS) with efficient bandwidth utilization over wireless fading channels is challenging. In this paper, we derive the throughput, the packet loss rate and the average delay of an end-to-end wireless link, where the transmitter relies on adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) at the physical layer while accounting for finite-length buffer effects at the data link layer. Guided by our cross-layer performance analysis, we develop a simple procedure to determine the minimal required bandwidth, which guarantees the prescribed QoS over the wireless link.