On using buffered bandwidth to support real-time mobile video playback in cellular networks

In this paper, we study the admission and bandwidth allocation problems in real-time video playback in a cellular network. Admission control in a cellular network is complicated by the movement of the clients. The additional workload from handoff clients could exceed the network capacity of a cell and seriously affect the effectiveness of the adopted admission control mechanism in maintaining the quality of services provided to the admitted clients. To minimize the number of forced terminations of real-time video playback in handoff clients, we include buffered bandwidth in the admission test for handoff clients. With the use of buffered bandwidth, we can balance the video workload amongst the cells to minimize the impact of overloading as the result of handoff operations. In serving video requests from the mobile clients in a cell, we aim to maintain fairness in services especially under overload situations as the requested videos from different types of clients could generate very different workload. Schemes to maintain the fairness in admission and bandwidth allocation in serving the video requests in a cell are discussed.