QoS provisioning for real-time traffic in wireless packet networks

QoS provisioning to users in the presence of volatility of the wireless channel is the most challenging issue in wireless system design. We consider the problem of scheduling constant bit rate (CBR) traffic packets over the wireless channel, subject to packet delivery deadline constraints. We cast the problem as a Markov decision process and derive the optimal scheduling policy, in the sense of minimizing long-term packet loss due to deadline expirations. Performance bounds and design guidelines for general scheduling algorithms are obtained through analysis and simulations.