A Utility-Based Framework for Performance and Energy-Aware Convergence in 5G Heterogeneous Network Environments
Jon Montalbán, Gabriel‐Miro Muntean, Pablo Angueira
Abstract
The integration of a broadcast oriented RAN architecture into a convergent framework for heterogeneous networks offers two major contributions. On the one hand, it presents an interesting solution to satisfy the exponential growth of the mobile video data traffic, and on the other hand, it is also identified as a promising key technology, that can contribute to improve the energy efficiency of 5G networks. This work proposes a novel Convergent Architecture for Broadcast, Broadband and Cellular services (CABS). This architecture is complemented with the Performance and Energy-aware Access (PEC) network selection algorithm. This joint solution offers a balanced trade-off between the user perceived QoS and the network energy efficiency in challenging heterogeneous scenarios. Furthermore, this approach guarantees the broadcast service continuity in harsh environments, and therefore, is helpful in one of the most critical scenarios for broadcasting industry: mobile and indoor reception. The proposed solution was modelled and tested in Network Simulator version 3 (NS-3), in which among other updates, a first version of an ATSC 3.0 model was introduced.