International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 5, No.

3, June 2016

Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE)

of the 4G LTE Perspective
Settapong Malisuwan, Dithdanai Milindavanij, and Wassana Kaewphanuekrungsi

 with limited frequency resources (high spectral efficiency is

Abstract—The increasing uptake of Internet of Things (IoT), achieved). These will promote the emergence of several new
Big data and cloud-based services introduces a new set of services or businesses.
requirements for network performance. Furthermore, the
evolution of mobile networks towards an all-IP 4G LTE
introduces new challenges for traditional voice and data services.
It is critical for operators to guarantee minimum levels of
performance. Therefore, operators need to understand and
manage both quality and performance of the services to fulfill on
the technical quality of service (QoS) as well as on the quality of
experience (QoE) level. 4G LTE broadband mobile technologies
have been designed with different QoS (Quality of Service)
frameworks to enable delivery of the evolving Internet
applications. Specifically, it is fundamental requirement to Fig. 1. Trends of network development toward LTE.
provide satisfactory service delivery to users and also to manage
network resources. To provide QoS, different service levels are Other than utilizing the new type of radio air interface,
specified for different types or stream of traffic in term of
network providers also have to convert their existing
throughput, latency (delay), jitter (delay variation) and packet
errors or loss. This paper aims to provide a basic principle of networks, both packet switching and circuit switching, into
QoS of the 4G LTE service. The impact of QoS parameter on all-IP networks so as to achieve extremely high spectral
QoE such as real-time and video communication services is efficiency. Although this requires heavier investments, it
discussed in this paper. QoS for 5G and M2M networks is also enables provision of diversified services arising from a
discussed in this paper as a future research. perfect combination of voice, video, data transmission and
reception. Besides, it can also be efficiently used with other
Index Terms—Quality of service (QoS), quality of experience
fixed and wireless networks.
(QoE), 4G, LTE, mobile, subscriber.
Due to its several special characteristics, LTE has gained
extremely widespread acceptance worldwide. Nowadays, a
I. INTRODUCTION lot of customers have become acquainted with using
high-speed broadband networks at home and in office. In
Long Term Evolution (LTE) refers to the standard,
addition, the rapid growth in smartphones, tablet computers,
developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project
netbooks, air cards, and various mobile phone applications
(3GPP), with the aim of creating new technology that enables
also take part in enhancing the needs and expectations for
high-speed data transmission and reception in mobile
broadband services in wireless networks as a result [2]. With
communication networks. It is currently considered a
the aid of LTE, consumers will be able to efficiently access
concrete 4G LTE technology after 2G and 3G. By designing
various services though high-speed Internet, no matter where
the technology deliberately, service providers are able to
they are.
improve the existing systems to smoothly support LTE, no
Another factor promoting the success in LTE is the way
matter what networks they have originally belonged to: 3GPP
that network providers are able to gradually build up all-IP
(GSM, WCDMA, HSPA, etc.) or others (CDMA, WiMax,
networks for LTE. In this regard, such all-IP networks are
etc.) [1]. The development of the 4G LTE technology shows
able to be used concurrently with the existing circuit-switched
in Fig. 1.
networks and enable the service providers to provide their
In the mobile internet era, what consumers demand will
services through LTE without the need for extremely heavy
vary based on the services offered and so will how they expect
investments [3].
to experience the services. 4G promises to offer a vast range
Technically, the key objective of LTE development is to
and diversity of converged devices, services and networks to
increase speeds of data transmission and reception, and lower
revolutionize the way we communicate.
the response latency of the system so as to support “real-time”
The LTE technology is designed to be capable of
applications: game, VoIP, video conferencing, etc.
transmitting data at high speeds, giving low-latency response,
and supporting large amounts of data simultaneously, even Regarding network providers, utilization of networks at
their maximum capacity is considered a very vital factor
behind business success. LTE is specifically designed for this
Manuscript received February 12, 2016; revised April 27, 2016. particular purpose, and is furnished with several special
The authors are with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications
Commission (NBTC), Thailand (e-mail: [email protected],
characteristics, for example, it can be used in a variety of
[email protected], [email protected]) frequencies, has flexibility in terms of channel bandwidths,

doi: 10.18178/ijfcc.2016.5.3.463 158

 International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 5, No. 3, June 2016

and can be used with both FDD and TDD. According to the The amount of bandwidth available to mobile phones,
aforementioned special characteristics, network providers are which is used in downloading movies, photos, and songs,
capable of utilizing the existing frequency effectively as we as differs from the real-time video streaming which can be
providing more diversified services and give consumers operated in the batch mode. Here, the network has to adopt the
greater satisfaction. best-effort scheduling approach in operation, and ensure that
In order to fulfill the aforementioned objective and be able the lost packet will be retransmitted via a protocol such as
to shape such various characteristics, the technologies TCP.
selected on the basis of 3GPP standards to be used for LTE air
D. Diversified Services and Applications
interface include Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) and Multi-Input Multi-Output There are a lot of game and social media applications on
(MIMO), as well as utilization of higher-order modulation. the mobile platform. Each of the applications requires
This process can be carried out through enabling LTE to be different quality and means of service provision. For example,
capable of transmitting and receiving data at the maximum multiplayer games require rapidity and real-time response,
speed of 75 Mbit/s in the uplink and 300 Mbit/s in the whereas communications applications like Facebook only
downlink. Nevertheless, the actual utilization speed may require adequate bandwidth for video or photo uploading.
differ from the theoretical value subjecting to several factors Fig. 2 illustrates the four-layered QoS model based on the
such as types of communication devices used, quality of architecture proposed by ITU-T [5].
channels, and amount of subscribers in that particular area [4].

II. QOS PARAMETER

The networks of 4G LTE hold a promise of performance
that is comparable or even better than the broadband services
provided by landline Wi-Fi access. However, even though the
technical limits are high, due to the complexities associated
with the cellular data networks and multimedia services as
following:
A. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) on Mobile Phones
VoIP is the technology for the delivery of voice
communications over IP networks, such as the Internet. The
channel used for voice communications must have low Fig. 2. Four-layer QoS model.
bandwidth. However, in order to make communications
efficient, data should be divided into packets to allow There is a large gap between engineering concepts and
low-latency packets to be transmitted and cause the smallest performance management in the QoS. Table I shows a
jitter. Here, the packet concerning voice communications is comparison of the difference between nerwork performance
considered very important and the channel bandwidth, which aspect and QoS aspect [6].
is able to guarantee that packets will be transmitted within
TABLE I: NETWORK PERFORMANCE VS. QUALITY OF SERVICE [6]
reasonable periods, must be determined. In addition, vital
Network Performance Quality of Service
services, such as emergency calls and communications during Provider oriented User oriented
emergencies, must be emphasized. Connection element attribute Service attribute
Focus on planning, development, Focus on user-observable effects
B. Video Streaming operations and maintenance
On-demand video streaming applications which enable End-to-end or network connection Between at service access points
elements capabilities
users to create real-time videos, such as YouTube and Hulu,
are considered the significant factor encouraging network
providers to provide quality networks. As for the sound
III. RELATION BETWEEN QOS AND QOE
quality and video streaming, the network must have a lot of
bandwidth to supply users’ needs. The streaming can be either Fundamentally, 4G LTE is designed to provide real-time,
of the person-to-person type which can share video in real delay-sensitive multimedia to support a different type of
time or of the content-to-person type. Each of the streaming Experience (QoE). QoE is a measurement of how well a
types requires different quality of network service provision. system or an degradation in voice or video quality, whereas
For example, the latency must be more strongly emphasized QoS focuses on standard quantitative performance from a
in real-time video sharing, compared with content-to-person network perspective.
streaming. That is to say, real-time video sharing will require Table II shows how subscriber QoE expectation varies by
higher bandwidth for both uplink and downlink. Therefore, service type. It also describes the user’s perception of quality
the quality of network service provision will depend on types on different services that have different performance
of application streaming. attributes [7].
QoE is directly related to QoS. Therefore, one can map the
C. Content Downloading objective QoS measurements (e.g.delay, packet loss and jitter)

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into the user’s perception QoE, through an appropriate set of tapped to further improve QoS in line with subscriber demand.
tools and processes. QoS is defined as the capability of the QoS standards are essential tools for smooth operations of
communication network to provide a service at an assured service net works and a guarantee of readiness to provide
service level. QoE is basically depends on customer efficient data transmission and handle any emerging service
satisfaction in terms of usability, accessibility, and integrity of disruption.
the service. QoE, however, is not limited to the technical Determination of Internet QoS can often be made based on
performance of the network; there are also non-technical at least 4 factors, namely throughput, packet loss, delay and
aspects, which influence the user perception and satisfaction. jitter, which greatly affect service quality from the perspective
The Fig. 3 illustrates QoE is affected by the technical QoS and of Internet subscribers, as follows:
non-technical aspects of service [8]. Throughput and actual bandwidth are telecommunication
network capacity for accommodating traffic. Throughput can
TABLE II: COMPARISON OF QOE EXPECTATIONS AND PERFORMANCE
REQUIREMENTS BY SERVICE TYPE [7]
be tracked by actual volumes of time-based full file packets,
Services QoE Expectation Performance measured in bit/s, that service networks can carry. Raising
Attributes network bandwidth may help improve service quality, but
Internet Low – best effort Variable bandwidth focusing on adding bandwidth alone to rectify the problem
consumption
Latency and loss may disproportionately incur additional operating cost as
tolerant service efficiency can be developed and achieved by various
Enterprise/Busines High – critical data High bandwidth other means, and it can be determined by the ratio of
s Services consumption
throughput or actual bandwidth and theoretical bandwidth
Highly sensitive to
latency (Table III).
High security
Peer-To-Peer Low – best effort Very- high bandwidth TABLE III: THROUGHPUT STANDARD [9]
consumption Category Throughput/Bandwidt
Latency and loss h
tolerant Throughput Excellent 100%
Voice High – Low latency and Low bandwidth – Standard
jitter 21-320 Kbps per call Good 75%
One-way latency < Medium 50%
150ms Poor <25%
One-way jitter < 30ms
Video High – low jitter and Very-high bandwidth Packet loss refers to failure to complete transmission of IP
extremely-low packet consumption
loss Very sensitive to
packets that is attributable to various factors, namely network
packet loss capacity is overwhelmed by excessively heavy traffic demand
Gaming and Services High – low Variable bandwidth for its existing bandwidth to handle. Packet loss measures
Interactive packet loss consumption packet failure as percentage of total actual packet traffic. If
One-way latency <
150ms packet l osses exceed 15%, they are regarded as below
One-way jitter < 30ms standards (Table IV).

TABLE IV: PACKET LOSS STANDARD [10]

Category Packet Loss
Packet Loss Excellent 0%
Standard
Good 3%
Medium 15%
Poor 25%

Delay or latency is the delay of point-to-point data transfer

Fig. 3. Relation between QoS and QoE [8]. which may depend on transfer routes or distance involved,
speeds of some service networks, e.g. the VoIP service for
In 2014, IDA created an application for monitoring mobile prompt, speedy data transfers which are highly important as
phone service quality that gauges voice service to measure any delay could disrupt flows of conversation to the point of
transmission delays and connection speeds of data service on making it impossible to proceed. Delays, attributable to
various Internet technologies, i.e. 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE) and various factors, can be measured by the ratio of packet length
WiFi, on specific service locations. It also asked subscribers (bit) and link bandwidth (bit/s) . If the delay level is over 400
to rate service satisfaction with their feedbacks reverted to millisecond (ms), the network standard is regarded as below
IDA for in-depth analysis for the benefit of improving standard (Table V).
supervision and quality of the telecommunication industry.
This testified to the priority given to tracking service quality, TABLE V: DELAY STANDARD [11]
Category Delay
either Quality of Service (QoS) or Quality of Experience
Delay Standard Good 0-5 ms
(QoE) which helped set efficient supervision policy.
Medium 150-400 ms
Service quality in subscriber perspective, or QoE, is one of Poor >400 ms
the main supervisory efficiency objectives. Raising QoE
requires understanding of factors affecting subscriber Jitter refers to the state of instability experienced during
satisfaction of related services, feedbacks of which could be data transfers, in other words varying degrees of delay seen in

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each packet. The fluctuating rate of delays in data transfers is but also encourage service providers to respond to market
called jitter which mostly occurs during packet switching, but demand in developing and improving services.
which can be monitored by following the ratio of the sum of
average delays in each packet (variable delay) and the volume
of packet received, with the appropriate jitter level not V. FUTURE WORK
exceeding 50 ms (Table VI). In the near future, the emergence of 5G mobile
TABLE VI: JITTER STANDARD [11]
communication and networks technologies is revolutionizing
Category Jitter the way people live and work. These technologies are moving
Jitter Standard Good 0-20 ms towards a common set of objectives to offer the end users
Medium 20-50 ms higher data rate, robustness, security, and QoS in a unified
Poor >50 ms
communication. 5G is the next step in the evolution of mobile
VoIP is voice communications run on the Internet or on communication and will be a key infrastructure of the mobile
other channels utilizing Internet protocol. The voice signals economy. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has
are divided into packets that are run on general established the overall roadmap for the development of 5G
communications networks, rather than on traditional mobile and defined the term it will apply to it as “IMT-2020”.
telephone circuits. The roadmap of 5G shows in Fig. 4 [14].

IV. THE IMPACT OF QOS PARAMETER ON QOE

The quality of telecommunication networks has material
impact on QoE as far as the main Internet service is concerned.
For example, VoIP, videoconferencing, video and audio Source: METIS
Fig. 4. The roadmap of 5G.
streaming, client/server transactions, email and file transfers,
all require varying network quality due to different sensitivity In order to provide end-to-end QoS support for application
of subscriber experience to each service. [12], [13] (Table services over the converged networks in 5G, a common QoS
VII). framework will be proposed for the future research. As we
Real-time communication services, including VoIP and discussed before in this paper, the QoS level is a major
video conference, are highly sensitive to data transfer delays component of the perceived QoE. That is why QoS and QoE
as slight such delays can disrupt services. Additionally, video both will be studied from design to implementation in the 5G
conferencing requires high service quality relative to other environment.
service formats, while video and audio streaming, as well as In hyperconnected 5G network, M2M scenario is
client/server transactions demand median network quality, considered as a major challenge for the 5G wireless cellular
and email/file transfer services need relatively insignificant systems [15]. Hence, in addition to increased bit rate, 5G will
service quality although they are highly sensitive to packet be required to provide minimal latency to seamless
losses. integration of Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, and to support
TABLE VII: APPLICATION QOS METRICS SENSITIVITY [12] energy efficiency of the terminals and of the whole system as
Sensitivity to illustrated in Fig. 5 [16].
Application Throughput Packet
Delay Jitter
Loss
VoIP Low High High Medium
Video
High High High Medium
Conferencing
Streaming
High Medium Medium Medium
Video
Streaming
Low Medium Medium Medium
Audio
Client/Server
Medium Medium Low High
Transactions
Email Low Low Low High
File Transfer Medium Low Low High

4G LTE operators can use the QoS metrices sensitivity for

Fig. 5. Energy-oriented network in the next generation network [16].
setting QoS standards for Internet connections in line with
QoE standards which are essential for guaranteeing minimum Future mobile services will be grouped around video
quality that subscribers get and preventing service services and services based on the massive use of M2M
deterioration in the wake of service charge regulations devices in most industries and consumers’ households [17].
enforced by relevant agencies. Setting QoS standards According to forecasts, in 2018, the number of M2M
guarantees not only minimum Internet connection services connections in the mobile networks will exceed 1.5 billion,
that subscribers expect, disclosure of result of monitoring and mobile networks will have more than 2.6 billion M2M
quality of each service provider not only can help subscribers connections in 2020 [18]. Therefore, in 5G and M2M
choose service providers most suited to their requirements, networks, the QoS level needs to meet the requirements

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resulting from future highly connected and automated devices [12] Introduction to Quality of Service, Nortell Networks Corp., Ontario,
Canada, 2003.
and go beyond what can be achieved with any wireless [13] A. Khalifeh et al., “QOS for multimedia applications with emphasis on
communication technology today [19]. video conferencing,” Masters Project, Halmstad University, Feb. 2011.
[14] Roadmap and Workplan on Future Technologies (2020) from 3GPP,
ITU and METIS.
[15] A. B. Marco et al., “The challenges of M2M massive access in wireless
VI. CONCLUSION Cellular networks,” Digital Communications and Networks, vol. 1, no.
In the past, the provision of mobile services through 1G and 1, Feb. 2015.
[16] Z.-S. Niu, “5G: A paradigm shift of cellular networks,” Tsinghua
2G networks was focused on voice. Besides, the quality National Lab for Information Science and Technology, Dec.4, 2014.
control in those services was less complicated than the quality [17] V. Tikhvinskiy and G. Bochechka, “Prospects and QoS requirements
control in providing 3G network services, especially in in 5G networks,” Journal of Telecommunications and Information
Technology, Jan. 2015
providing 4G LTE network services. This is because the [18] The Global M2M Market in 2013, Machina Research, London, Jan.
means of service provision and mobile broadband services 2013.
which are widespread motivate wireless network providers to [19] R. Ratasuk, A. Prasad, Z. Li, A. Ghosh, and M. A. Uusitalo, “Recent
advancements in M2M communications in 4G networks and evolution
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telecommunications services can be achieved by managing
QoE, attracting and retaining customers, improving user Settapong Malisuwan was born on March 24, 1966
in Bangkok, Thailand. He was awarded full
satisfaction and expanding the subscriber base. The challenge scholarship from Thai Government for Ph.D. in
operators face today is how to monitor and improve QoS in electrical engineering (telecommunications),
real time and offer differentiated services. As for network specializing in mobile communication systems from
Florida Atlantic University (State University System
operators, the customers’ success will be characterized by of Florida), Boca Raton in 2000. He received his
their competency in offering these applications with the aim MSc in electrical eng. in mobile communications
to bring customers great experiences. Consequently, network system from George Washington University in 1996 and was awarded First
Class Honors, Gold Medal Award and Outstanding Cadet Award by the
operators have to improve their means of service provision so university. He also achieved the MSc in electrical engineering in
as to gain the biggest return on investment (ROI) and telecommunication engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in
execution. The provision of mobile phone networks has to be 1992. Furthermore, he achieved military education from Special Warfare
efficient and meets quality of services (QoS) in order to Center, Thailand, specializing in ranger and airborne courses in 1989 and
1988 respectively. He is currently the vice chairman and board
handle such challenges. Here, the LTE network, which is commissioner of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulator
IP-based and has already become a widespread trend in in Bangkok, Thailand. He was awarded the “Science towards the excellence
mobile phone infrastructures, will help in acquiring more in 2013” by the Senate Standing Committee on Science, Technology,
Communications and Telecommunications. His research interests are in
bandwidth and improving data latency. electromagnetics, efficient spectrum management and telecommunications
policy and management.
REFERENCES
Dithdanai Milindavanij was born in Bangkok,
[1] M. Nohrborg, “LTE Overview,” 3rd Generation Partnership Project. Thailand on February 15, 1981. He received his
[2] The Global mobile Supplier Association (GSA). Fast Facts. [Online]. master of political science in political management
Available: http://gsacom.com/paper/fast-facts-2/ from Ramkhamhaeng University in 2006. He has
[3] UMTS Forum, “Towards global mobile broadband: Standardising been working in National Broadcasting and
future of mobile broadband with LTE (long term evolution),” 2008. Telecommunications, Bangkok, Thailand Office
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Mobile Broadband, 2009. vice chairman in National Broadcasting and
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Telecommunications Quality of Service, Chichester, New York : Wiley, technology management and spectrum management.
2002.
[6] Tutorial Document on QoS and QoE, Internal Report, National
Wassana Kaewphanuekrungsi was born on
Broadcasting and Telecommunications commission (NBTC), Dec.
February 1, 1979, Bangkok, Thailand. She received
2015
her B.S. in statistics with a major in business
[7] (Dec. 2013). Quality of Service (QoS) and Policy Management in
information technology from Chulalongkorn
Mobile Data Networks, Validating Service Quality to Ensure
University, Thailand, 2000, and the M.S. in
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technology management from Thammasat
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University, Thailand, 2006. She joined National
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(NBTC) as assistance to vice chairman of NBTC in December 2011, which
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is responsible in the field of telecommunications research. Previously in
[9] Telkom Polytechnic, Throughput Standards.
2010, she worked for as senior system analyst at Bangkok Insurance (Public)
[10] ETSI, Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization over
Co., Ltd. Her research interests are in information technology,
Networks (TIPHON).
telecommunication technology, technology management and spectrum
[11] International Telecommunications Union (ITU), ITU-T-G.114,
management.
General Characteristics of International Telephone Connections and
International Telephone Circuits, 1998.

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