Enhanced Methods for IPTV Delivery over Wireless Networks

The rapid development of the wireless access technologies challenged the IPTV platform operators to exploit this new medium, although the IPTV systems were designed for fixed transport, and they cannot easily accommodate to the mobile environment. Two aspect of this challenge are analyzed in my dissertation: the bandwidth allocation and packet retransmission; and the charging solutions. First, a Markovian channel model is created, which is able to capture the specific requirements of the multimedia transmission in wireless networks, then new methods are developed for bandwidth allocation and packet retransmission for ensuring optimal user experience. The second part introduces a novel quality based charging architecture for IPTV solutions, and provides the necessary considerations to implement this method for mobile networks. All the results are evaluated on theoretical basis, which was supported by measurements conducted in two testbeds. The results increase the service quality and mitigate the negative effect of wireless transport by providing new functions and design processes for IPTV solutions. The quality based charging ensures a fair and simple billing method with the aim of gain customer satisfaction.