URLLC-eMBB Slicing to Support VR Multimodal Perceptions over Wireless Cellular Systems

TL;DR

This paper explores how to efficiently support multimodal VR perceptions over wireless cellular networks by using specialized network slices, comparing orthogonal and non-orthogonal resource sharing methods for visual and haptic data.

Contribution

It introduces and compares two slicing methods for supporting visuo-haptic VR traffic, highlighting the advantages of non-orthogonal slicing under certain conditions.

Findings

Non-orthogonal slicing outperforms orthogonal slicing at higher perceptual resolution.

Non-orthogonal slicing is preferable for higher haptic data rates.

The study uses the just-noticeable difference (JND) as a key performance metric.

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) enables mobile wireless users to experience multimodal perceptions in a virtual space. In this paper we investigate the problem of concurrent support of visual and haptic perceptions over wireless cellular networks, with a focus on the downlink transmission phase. While the visual perception requires moderate reliability and maximized rate, the haptic perception requires fixed rate and high reliability. Hence, the visuo-haptic VR traffic necessitates the use of two different network slices: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) for visual perception and ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) for haptic perception. We investigate two methods by which these two slices share the downlink resources orthogonally and non-orthogonally, respectively. We compare these methods in terms of the just-noticeable difference (JND), an established measure in psychophysics, and show that non-orthogonal slicing becomes preferable under a higher target integrated-perceptual resolution and/or a higher target rate for haptic perceptions.