Hierarchical QoE model for wireless video streaming with fountain codes

The rapid growth of video in wireless networks is a crucial issue to be addressed by content providers. Nowadays, an emerging and promising trend is the development of solutions aimed at maximizing the quality of experience (QoE) of end users. However, the prediction of the QoE perceived by users in different conditions remains a major challenge. In this paper, we propose a two-layer hierarchical QoE model for wireless video streaming systems that employ fountain codes in forward error correction (FEC). The first layer decomposes the impact of fountain codes on the user QoE into three factors, namely the initial playback delay, the rebuffering frequency and the rebuffering time. The second layer of the QoE model relates the user QoE in terms of the mean opinion score (MOS) to the aforementioned three factors using a quadratic function. An exemplary application of the developed QoE model in the admission control of a bandwidth-limited video on demand (VoD) system is given with the goal toward guaranteeing the QoE quality of all users. Simulation results confirms the effectiveness of the developed admission control technique.