A scalable QoS scheduling architecture for WiMAX multi-hop relay networks

WiMAX Mobile Multi-hop Relay (MMR) network has been introduced to increase the capacity and extend the coverage area of a single WiMAX Base Station (BS) by the use of a Relay Station (RS). WiMAX provides broadband access for services having different QoS requirements and different traffic priorities. However, it is the responsibility of the medium access control (MAC) layer to schedule the traffic flows and allocate bandwidth such that the QoS requirements of each flow is satisfied. This scenario is even more complex when multi-hop relays were introduced into the network. Nonetheless, the IEEE 802.16j standard does not specify any QoS scheduling architectures. In this paper, we propose a Scalable QoS Scheduling Architecture (SQSA) for IEEE 802.16j networks in order to (1) guarantee QoS demands of different applications, (2) find the appropriate QoS that each flow requests and to ensure this QoS. The SQSA is fully compliant QoS architecture; we present complete description of the SQSA modules and functions.