On Assuring End-to-End QoE in Next Generation Networks: Challenges and a Possible Solution

In next generation networks, voice, data, and multimedia services will be converged onto a single network platform with increasing complexity and heterogeneity of underlying wireless and optical networking systems. These services should be delivered in the most cost-and resource-efficient manner with ensured user satisfaction. To this end, service providers are now switching the focus from network Quality of Service (QoS) to user Quality of Experience (QoE), which describes the overall performance of a network from the user perspective. High network QoS can, in many cases, result in high QoE, but it cannot assure high QoE. Optimizing end-to-end QoE must consider other contributing factors of QoE such as the application-level QoS, the capability of terminal equipment and customer premises networks, and subjective user factors. This article discusses challenges and a possible solution for optimizing end-to-end QoE in Next Generation Networks.