MOS-based multiuser multiapplication cross-layer optimization for mobile multimedia communication

We propose a cross-layer optimization strategy that jointly optimizes the application layer, the data-link layer, and the physical layer of a wireless protocol stack using an application-oriented objective function. The cross-layer optimization framework provides efficient allocation of wireless network resources across multiple types of applications run by different users to maximize network resource usage and user perceived quality of service. We define a novel optimization scheme based on the mean opinion score (MOS) as the unifying metric over different application classes. Our experiments, applied to scenarios where users simultaneously run three types of applications, namely voice communication, streaming video and file download, confirm that MOS-based optimization leads to significant improvement in terms of user perceived quality when compared to conventional throughput-based optimization.