Distribuição de vídeo para grupos de utilizadores em redes móveis heterogéneas19

The evolutions veri ed in mobile devices capabilities (storage capacity, screen resolution, processor, etc.) over the last years led to a signi cant change in mobile user behavior, with the consumption and creation of multimedia content becoming more common, in particular video tra c. Consequently, mobile operator networks, despite being the target of architectural evolutions and improvements over several parameters (such as capacity, transmission and reception performance, amongst others), also increasingly become more frequently challenged by performance aspects associated to the nature of video tra c, whether by the demanding requirements associated to that service, or by its volume increase in such networks. This Thesis proposes modi cations to the mobile architecture towards a more e cient video broadcasting, de ning and developing mechanisms applicable to the network, or to the mobile terminal. Particularly, heterogeneous networks multicast IP mobility supported scenarios are focused, emphasizing their application over di erent access technologies. The suggested changes are applicable to mobile or static user scenarios, whether it performs the role of receiver or source of the video tra c. Similarly, the de ned mechanisms propose solutions targeting operators with di erent video broadcasting goals, or whose networks have di erent characteristics. The pursued methodology combined an experimental evaluation executed over physical testbeds, with the mathematical evaluation using network simulation, allowing the veri cation of its impact on the optimization of video reception in mobile terminalsA evolução veri cada nas características dos dispositivos moveis (capacidade de armazenamento, resolução do ecrã, processador, etc.) durante os últimos anos levou a uma alteração signi cativa nos comportamentos dos utilizadores, sendo agora comum o consumo e produção de conteúdos multimédia envolvendo terminais móveis, em particular o tráfego vídeo. Consequentemente, as redes de operador móvel, embora tendo também sido alvo constante de evoluções arquitecturais e melhorias em vários parâmetros (tais como capacidade, ritmo de transmissão/recepção, entre outros), vêemse cada vez mais frequentemente desa adas por aspectos de desempenho associados à natureza do tráfego de vídeo, seja pela exigência de requisitos associados a esse serviço, quer pelo aumento do volume do mesmo nesse tipo de redes. Esta Tese propôe alterações à arquitetura móvel para a disseminação de vídeo mais e ciente, de nindo e desenvolvendo mecanismos aplicáveis à rede, ou ao utilizador móvel. Em particular, são focados cenários suportados por IP multicast em redes móveis heterogéneas, isto é, com ênfase na aplicação destes mecanismos sobre diferentes tecnologias de acesso. As alterações sugeridas aplicam-se a cenários de utilizador estático ou móvel, sendo este a fonte ou receptor do tráfego vídeo. Da mesma forma, são propostas soluções tendo em vista operadores com diferentes objectivos de disseminação de vídeo, ou cujas redes têm diferentes características. A metodologia utilizada combinou a avaliação experimental em testbeds físicas com a avaliação matemática em simulações de redes, e permitiu veri car o impacto sobre a optimização da recepção de vídeo em terminais móveisPrograma Doutoral em Telecomunicaçõe

Link level performance evaluation and link abstraction for LTE/LTE-advanced downlink

Els objectius principals d'aquesta tesis són l'avaluació del rendiment a nivell d'enllaç i l'estudi de l'abstracció de l'enllaç pel LTE/LTE-Advanced DL. S’ha desenvolupat un simulador del nivell d'enllaç E-UTRA DL basat en la tecnologia MIMO-OFDM. Es simulen els errors d'estimació de canal amb un model d'error de soroll additiu Gaussià anomenat CEEM. El resultat d'aquest simulador serveix per avaluar el rendiment a nivell d'enllaç del LTE/LTE-Advanced DL en diferents entorns . La idea bàsica dels mètodes d'abstracció de l'enllaç és mapejar el vector de SNRs de les subportadores a un valor escalar, l'anomenada ESNR, la qual és usada per a predir la BLER. Proposem un innovador mètode d'abstracció de l'enllaç que pot predir la BLER amb bona precisió en esvaïments multicamí i que inclouen els efectes de les retransmissions HARQ. El mètode proposat es basa amb l'estimació de la informació mútua entre els bits transmesos i els LLRs rebuts.The main objectives of this dissertation are the evaluation of the link level performance and the study of link abstraction for LTE/LTE-Advanced DL. An E-UTRA DL link level simulator has been developed based on MIMO-OFDM technology. We simulate channel estimation errors by a Gaussian additive noise error model called CEEM. The result of this simulator serves to evaluate the MIMO-OFDM LTE/LTE-Advanced DL link level performance in different environments. The basic idea of link abstraction methods is to map the vector of the subcarrier SNRs to a single scalar, the ESNR, which is then used to predict the BLER. We propose a novel link abstraction method that can predict the BLER with good accuracy in multipath fading and including the effects of HARQ retransmissions. The proposed method is based on estimating the mutual information between the transmitted bits and the received LLRs.Postprint (published version

ADAPTIVE WIRELESS NETWORKING FOR VIDEO STREAMING

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Collaborative Sensing in Automotive Scenarios : Enhancement of the Vehicular Electronic Horizon through Collaboratively Sensed Knowledge

Modern vehicles are equipped with a variety of advanced driver assistance systems that increase driving comfort, economy and safety. Respective information sources for these systems are local sensors, like cameras, radar or lidar. However, the next generation of assistant systems will require information above the local sensing range. An extension of the local perception can be provided by the use of appro- priate communication mechanisms. Hence, other vehicles can serve as an informa- tion source by providing their local perception data, but also any other information source, such as cloud services. Required communication can take place directly be- tween vehicles via mobile ad-hoc communication or via a backend by the use of cellu- lar communication. The appropriate technology depends on the respective use case, that determines information content, granularity and tolerated latency. Based on liter- ature, we derived a categorization of use case dependent information demands, with respect to communication. The resulting three zones, namely safety zone, awareness zone and information zone, refer to the tolerated latency between the occurrence of an information and the point in time the information has to be processed at the receiver side. While communication mechanisms for the safety zone, i. e., the ego-vehicle’s di- rect surroundings with a remaining driving time of less than 2 − 5 seconds, have been focus in research and standardization in the past, respective mechanisms for larger distances have not been sufficiently considered. In this thesis, we examine in- formation distribution mechanisms in context of the previously mentioned use case categories. As the first key contribution, we consider the gathering of vehicular sensed data with regard to the information zone, i. e., more than 30 seconds remaining driving time to the point of the information origin. We developed a probabilistic data collection model that is able to reduce data traffic up to 85 % compared to opportunistic trans- mission and still sticks to certain quality metrics, e. g., a maximum detection latency. A central adaption of transmission probabilities to the density of transmitting vehi- cles is applicable for cellular use and copes with sparse traffic situations. Moreover, we have extended this approach by hybrid communication, i. e., the parallel use of cellular and mobile ad-hoc communication. This allows to further reduce cellular based data traffic, in particular in case of dense traffic. As the second key contribution, we examine the efficient distribution of the pre- viously gathered information. Information is structured and prioritized according to the most probable driving path, as so-called electronic horizon. The transmission towards the vehicles is performed in small data packets, according to the given pri- orities. The aim is to transmit only information relevant for road segments that will be used. Concerning this, we developed a mechanism for most probable travel path estimation and a data structure for efficient mapping of the electronic horizon. As the third key contribution, we examine the information exchange in the aware- ness zone, an area between the safety zone and the information zone with about 5 to 30 seconds remaining driving time to the point of the information origin. Derived from the respective use cases, this data is not directly safety relevant, but it is still about dynamic position information of neighboring vehicles. Due to the relatively long distance, direct vehicle to vehicle communication is not possible. Respective data has to be forwarded by intermediate vehicles. However, position beacons with- out data forwarding can already cause channel congestion in dense traffic situations. The use of cellular networks would require absolute total network coverage with permanent free channel resources. To enable forwarding of dynamic vehicle infor- mation anyhow, we developed at first a mechanism to reduce the channel load for position beacons. Next, we use the freed-up bandwidth to forward dynamic informa- tion about neighboring vehicle positions. With this mechanism, we are able to more than double the range of vehicular perception, with respect to moving objects. In extension to standardized communication mechanisms for the safety relevant direct proximity, our three mentioned contributions provide the means to complete the long range vehicular perception for future advanced driver assistance systems