Sesay, Abu B.Ghannouchi, FadhelAl Masri, Mohamed Ammar2016-09-012016-09-0120162016Al Masri, M. A. (2016). Quality of Experience and Mobility-Aware Green Inter-Radio Access Technology Traffic Offloading (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27492http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3252Traffic offloading among coexisting heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs) (i.e., inter-RAT offloading) is considered an effective strategy for enhancing the capacity of wireless networks and reducing the power consumption of base stations (BSs) and mobile stations (MSs). To fully utilize inter-RAT offloading advantages, a mobility-aware evaluation is needed, which takes into account the combined effects of mobility and MSs/BSs spatial distributions on the performance gains. This thesis develops an analytical mobility-aware evaluation framework that accurately evaluates the performance of inter-RAT offloading while accounting for the MSs/BSs spatial distribution. This framework is then utilized to develop a novel mobility-aware inter-RAT offloading policy, which aims at associating a MS to the best RAT at any time that optimizes a predefined multi-criterion objective. Deploying a power saving mode (PSM) is also considered an effective solution for saving energy. To efficiently exploit the PSM power saving capabilities for voice over IP (VoIP) services, a quality of experience (QoE)-aware PSM performance evaluation is needed. This thesis develops an analytical evaluation framework that assesses the QoE and energy consumption achieved by a fixed PSM. Based on this framework, this thesis develops a novel QoE-aware PSM, which exploits the on-off characteristics of VoIP sessions to further improve the energy saving while accounting for the bursty losses effects on the QoE. Finally, benefits of deploying a PSM can be combined with those of utilizing inter-RAT offloading to maximize the energy saving while guaranteeing a desired level of QoE for VoIP services. This thesis develops an analytical inter-RAT offloading performance evaluation framework that assesses the QoE and energy consumption achieved by an inter-RAT traffic offloading policy taking into account the PSM being used. Based on this framework, this thesis develops a novel QoE/mobility-aware inter-RAT offloading policy that jointly utilizes the inter-RAT offloading and PSM for optimizing a predefined multi-criterion objective. The research in this thesis offers potentials for enhancing performance while reducing computational complexity. The numerical results validate the accuracy of the proposed performance evaluation frameworks and verify the efficacy of the proposed techniques in enhancing the performance compared to their counterparts.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Engineering--Electronics and ElectricalTraffic Offloading, Mobility, Vertical Handover, Quality of Experiencedoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/27492