A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE

Due to the wide diversity of services in mobile networks, cellular operators have changed their focus from Quality of Service (QoS) to Quality of Experience (QoE). To manage this change, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) techniques have been developed to automate network management, with traffic steeri...

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Main Authors: Maria Luisa Mari Altozano, Matias Toril, Salvador Luna-Ramirez, Carolina Gijon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9177008/
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author Maria Luisa Mari Altozano
Matias Toril
Salvador Luna-Ramirez
Carolina Gijon
author_facet Maria Luisa Mari Altozano
Matias Toril
Salvador Luna-Ramirez
Carolina Gijon
author_sort Maria Luisa Mari Altozano
collection DOAJ
description Due to the wide diversity of services in mobile networks, cellular operators have changed their focus from Quality of Service (QoS) to Quality of Experience (QoE). To manage this change, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) techniques have been developed to automate network management, with traffic steering as a key use case. Traditionally, traffic steering aims to balance traffic volume or load among adjacent cells. Although more advanced schemes have been devised to balance QoE among cells, these do not guarantee that the overall system QoE is improved. In this work, a novel self-tuning algorithm for parameters in a classical mobility load balancing scheme is proposed to steer traffic among adjacent cells in a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network driven by QoE criteria. Unlike previous approaches, based on heuristic rules, the proposed algorithm takes a gradient ascent approach to ensure that parameter changes always improve the overall system QoE. For this purpose, the impact of parameter changes on system QoE is estimated with an analytical network performance model that can be adjusted with statistics taken from the real network. The proposed algorithm is tested in a system-level simulator implementing a realistic LTE scenario. Results show that the method outperforms classical load and QoE mobility load balancing schemes.
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spelling doaj.art-fe24d400b6d549889f03cacc52549c432022-12-21T22:27:50ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362020-01-01815670715671710.1109/ACCESS.2020.30192819177008A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTEMaria Luisa Mari Altozano0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4880-6225Matias Toril1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3859-2622Salvador Luna-Ramirez2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-5721Carolina Gijon3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6204-0604Department of Communication Engineering, University of Málaga, Málaga, SpainDepartment of Communication Engineering, University of Málaga, Málaga, SpainDepartment of Communication Engineering, University of Málaga, Málaga, SpainDepartment of Communication Engineering, University of Málaga, Málaga, SpainDue to the wide diversity of services in mobile networks, cellular operators have changed their focus from Quality of Service (QoS) to Quality of Experience (QoE). To manage this change, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) techniques have been developed to automate network management, with traffic steering as a key use case. Traditionally, traffic steering aims to balance traffic volume or load among adjacent cells. Although more advanced schemes have been devised to balance QoE among cells, these do not guarantee that the overall system QoE is improved. In this work, a novel self-tuning algorithm for parameters in a classical mobility load balancing scheme is proposed to steer traffic among adjacent cells in a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network driven by QoE criteria. Unlike previous approaches, based on heuristic rules, the proposed algorithm takes a gradient ascent approach to ensure that parameter changes always improve the overall system QoE. For this purpose, the impact of parameter changes on system QoE is estimated with an analytical network performance model that can be adjusted with statistics taken from the real network. The proposed algorithm is tested in a system-level simulator implementing a realistic LTE scenario. Results show that the method outperforms classical load and QoE mobility load balancing schemes.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9177008/Long term evolution (LTE)self organizing network (SON)self-tuningquality of experience
spellingShingle Maria Luisa Mari Altozano
Matias Toril
Salvador Luna-Ramirez
Carolina Gijon
A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
IEEE Access
Long term evolution (LTE)
self organizing network (SON)
self-tuning
quality of experience
title A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
title_full A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
title_fullStr A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
title_full_unstemmed A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
title_short A Self-Tuning Algorithm for Optimal QoE-Driven Traffic Steering in LTE
title_sort self tuning algorithm for optimal qoe driven traffic steering in lte
topic Long term evolution (LTE)
self organizing network (SON)
self-tuning
quality of experience
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9177008/
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