QoS-aware adaptation for satellite multimedia broadcasting via hierarchical packet scheduling

With the unique broadcast nature and ubiquitous coverage of satellite networks, the synergy between satellite and terrestrial networks provides opportunities for delivering wideband services to a wide range of audiences over extensive geographical areas. This article concerns the optimization techniques pertinent to packet scheduling to facilitate multimedia content delivery over the satellite with a return channel via a terrestrial network. We propose a novel hierarchical packet scheduling scheme that allocates the resources at different parts of the network in response to network dynamics and link variations while under the system power/resource constraints. Simulations prove that the HPS scheme can effectively improve the end-to-end performance and resource utilization with desirable scalability and fairness features.