Quality of experience management in mobile content delivery systems

This study contributes towards the relatively new but growing discipline of QoE management in content delivery systems. The study focuses on the development of a QoE-based management framework for the construction of QoE models for different types of multimedia contents delivered onto three typical mobile terminals—a mobile phone, PDA and a laptop. A statistical modelling technique is employed which, correlates QoS parameters with estimates of QoE perceptions. These correlations were found to be dependent on terminals and multimedia content types. The application of the framework and prediction models in QoE management strategies are demonstrated using examples. We find that significant resource savings can be achieved with our approach by contrast to conventional QoS solutions

Dwarfed Giant: Impact of Trade and Related Policies on SMEs in the Nigerian Textile Industry

This study examines the impact of trade-related policies on SMEs fabric manufacturers operating in the Nigerian textile industry. The Nigerian textile industry was the third largest in Africa and the second largest employer of labour after the government. However, from the 1990s, the industry started experiencing some challenges often linked to trade liberalisation policy under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This placed SMEs textile fabric manufacturing firms under immense pressure to attain long-term sustainability as the productivity and competitiveness of the domestic industry were being threatened by foreign/external competitors from international markets. In identifying and addressing the issues posed by trade policies as part of achieving the research objective, a qualitative mode of inquiry with a case study approach was employed. Semi-structured In-depth interviews were conducted with the managers of three formally registered SMEs fabric manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The findings were interpreted using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the challenges faced by SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry are linked to the lack of supportive and measurable policy and regulatory frameworks to accompany the implementation of liberal policy in the country. These findings point to the fact that in order to revive and boost the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry, and to reap the full benefits of international trade policy on liberalised markets, the government has to engage in restructuring the business environment through the implementation of effective and stable macroeconomic, trade-related infrastructural and institutional policies

QoE-aware QoS management

The streaming of multimedia contents (e.g., Mobile TV) is a bandwidth intensive service. The network operator's aim is to provide an acceptable user experience at minimal network resource usage. It is important from the network operator's perspective to be aware of: 1) the thresholds at which the user's perception of service quality becomes unacceptable; and 2) the degree of influence of each of the Quality of Service (QoS) parameters on the user perception. However, very little is known about the formal methods to optimize the use of QoS mechanisms in relation to the user's Quality of Experience (QoE). In this paper, we explain how the user's QoE can be captured. A statistical modelling technique is employed which, correlates QoS parameters with estimates of QoE perceptions and identifies the degree of influence of each QoS parameters on the user perception. The network operator can apply this information to efficiently, and accurately undertake network dimensioning and service provisioning strategies. This proposed methodology is applied to demonstrate QoE management strategies, thus paving the way towards QoE-aware QoS management

QoE in pervasive telecommunication systems

The concept of offering pervasive telecommunication services, i.e., services that are available anytime, anywhere and from any terminal, is very appealing. Providing pervasive services to users has been the ultimate goal of telecommunication systems for many years. We introduce pervasive systems and services from the telecommunication perspective. We also look at the enabling technologies and different pervasive services that are currently being provided to users. In view of this, we emphasize on why quality of experience (QoE) in telecommunication systems is important. Next, we elaborate on the different requirements needed to provide pervasive services from the user’s perspective. A case study is presented, illustrating how the sensitivity of different network parameters (such as bandwidth, packet loss and delay) for a pervasive service can affect QoE. The chapter then concludes with what the current status is, and the shortcomings in providing QoE in a truly pervasive service

The four facets of multimedia streaming

Recent advances in media coding techniques and network access technologies have made multimedia streaming practicable and affordable in both fixed and mobile environments. Multimedia streaming services from anywhere and at anytime is fast becoming a reality. This chapter provides a snapshot of the facets involved in delivering multimedia streaming contents to the end user’s terminal. The facets discussed in the chapter extend from the streaming paradigms, media coding techniques, the network support for multimedia streaming services to the techniques used to evaluate the user’s quality of experience for multimedia streaming applications. Each facet is also discussed for both fixed and mobile environments

QoE for mobile TV services

This chapter discusses the various issues that surround the development stage of mobile TV services. It highlights the importance of Quality of Experience (QoE), which is a shift in paradigm away from the widely studied Quality of Service (QoS). We discuss the factors affecting QoE and the types of assessment methods used to evaluate QoE. A QoE-layered model is presented with the aim of ensuring end-to-end user satisfaction. Using a case study, we develop a QoE management framework. We argue that gaining an understanding of users’ perceptions and their service quality expectations may assist in the development of QoE models that are user centric

Addressing user expectations in mobile content delivery

Multimedia services like television programs and live streaming of mobile videos can be delivered to mobile terminals via different access technologies. The question is – how do users perceive such services on mobile terminals? The objective of this study is to find the correlation between video quality thresholds and the user context. Our study reveals the thresholds of user's quality of experience (QoE) in a mobile environment by using different categories of content types, in relation to different access technologies and terminal capability. The mobile terminals used are: – (i) 3G Mobile Phone (ii) Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and (iii) Laptop. We argue that quality of service (QoS) management should be driven by the user perception of quality rather than resulting from raw engineering parameters such as latency, jitter, bandwidth etc. Our results will be of great interest to network operators, service providers, terminal manufacturers, and researchers working in the area of quality of service managemen