Downlink Power Allocation for Stored Variable-Bit-Rate Videos

TL;DR

This paper addresses optimal downlink power allocation for multiple variable-bit-rate videos in cellular networks, aiming to ensure timely delivery without buffer issues, using a novel two-step greedy and distributed algorithms.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach combining a two-step greedy method and dual decomposition for power allocation in VBR video streaming, considering buffer constraints.

Findings

Algorithms effectively prevent buffer overflow and underflow.

Proposed methods outperform baseline in simulation scenarios.

Distributed algorithm achieves near-optimal performance.

Abstract

In this paper, we study the problem of power allocation for streaming multiple variable-bit-rate (VBR) videos in the downlink of a cellular network. We consider a deterministic model for VBR video traffic and finite playout buffer at the mobile users. The objective is to derive the optimal downlink power allocation for the VBR video sessions, such that the video data can be delivered in a timely fashion without causing playout buffer overflow and underflow. The formulated problem is a nonlinear nonconvex optimization problem. We analyze the convexity conditions for the formulated problem and propose a two-step greedy approach to solve the problem. We also develop a distributed algorithm based on the dual decomposition technique. The performance of the proposed algorithms are validated with simulations using VBR video traces under realistic scenarios.