Scalable Transmission Over Heterogeneous Networks: A Stochastic Geometry Analysis

This paper focuses on the transmission of layered source information, such as scalable video coding, over heterogeneous cellular networks. Scalable transmission enables dynamic adaption of source information to the condition of user equipment (UE) devices and, thus, is suitable for cellular networks in which the transmission link quality substantially varies over space and time. Two novel transmission schemes are proposed, namely, layered digital transmission and layered hybrid digital-analog (LHDA) transmission. Leveraging tools from stochastic geometry, a comprehensive analysis is conducted focusing on three key performance metrics: outage probability, high-definition probability, and average distortion. The results show that both proposed transmission schemes can provide a scalable video experience for UE devices. For LHDA transmission, the optimal power allocation between digital and analog transmissions is also analyzed. When the proportion of frequency resource allocated to the femtotier exceeds a certain threshold, LHDA transmission is preferable by enabling continuous quality scalability, thus avoiding the cliff effect.