Optimization of discrete broadcast under uncertainty using conditional value-at-risk

Abstract

The paper considers the problem of scheduling packets in wireless broadcast systems under uncertainty with the conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) constraints. In such systems, a server periodically transmits a stream of packets over a broadcast channel. The client that needs to access the data, tunes in to the channel and waits for the next packet. This allows one to serve a large number of clients in an efficient way and also keep clients’ location secret. We formulate and solve two alternative stochastic optimization problems that minimize the transmission time subject to CVaR constraints. Our results indicate that it is possible to derive an analytical solution to the problems in certain cases of practical interest. We also propose a methodology to obtain numerical solutions for the general case.