Tradeoff in delay, cost, and quality in data transmission over TV white spaces

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a small cognitive wireless network operator (SCWNO) that provides machine-to-machine (M2M) communications by utilizing TV white spaces (TVWS) and lease high priority channels (HPC) at a cost to achieve better quality-of-service (QoS). We study the economic viability of SCWNO by considering the cost of leasing HPC, delay in data transmission, and quality of data. When the free TVWS is congested, SCWNO may choose to purchase HPC, or delay the transmission, or reduce the data unit size by sacrificing the data quality. We develop offline and online algorithms for two optimization problems i) SCWNO cost minimization subject to target delay and data quality constraints, and ii) delay minimization subject to given total budget and data quality constraints. Simulation results show that considering data quality as an additional QoS dimension can aid SCWNO in meeting its QoS objectives while also maintaining its economic viability.