Optimization of QoS-aware Packet Schedulers in Multi-Service Scenarios over HSDPA

This paper illustrates the optimization of design parameters for quality-of-service (QoS) aware packet schedulers in multi-service environments with WCDMA/HSDPA. The optimization sets the objective of maximizing the cell throughput while meeting certain minimum QoS criteria and focuses on two variants of the proportional fair with barrier function (PF-B) family of schedulers and on the proportional fair with required activity detection. The assessment on the sensitivity of the scheduler parameters to the traffic load and mixture is evaluated in scenarios with both real-time (streaming) and non real-time type of users (web browsing). This study shows that the PF-B schedulers require a per scenario dedicated optimization, while PF-RAD is quite insensitive and robust to support a general traffic mix. Overall, PF-RAD significantly outperforms PF-barrier schedulers in the investigated scenarios, providing up to 100% streaming cell throughput gain.