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An access-aware pricing strategy for the evolved packet system

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Abstract

The evolved packet system (EPS) integrates third generation partnership project (3GPP) and non-3GPP wireless access networks to provide mobile users with ubiquitous access to a diverse set of multimedia services. As we know, 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks differ significantly with respect to bandwidth capacity, coverage range, and service cost. It is crucial to enable efficient load balancing between 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks to improve resource utilization, and still maximize revenue generation. From an economic point of view, pricing plays an important role in achieving load balancing in the EPS. This paper proposes an access-aware pricing strategy for the EPS to achieve load balancing between 3GPP and non-3GPP access networks and to maximize revenue generation for network operators. In addition, this paper develops an analytical model for the system using the proposed access-aware pricing strategy. With the analytical model, this paper also proposes an iterative method for determining the optimal pricing that maximizes revenue generation in the EPS. The analytical model is verified by simulation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the National Science Council under Contract NSC102-2221-E-155-045.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Chungli, Taiwan, ROC

    Yieh-Ran Haung & Sheng-Yung Su

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  1. Yieh-Ran Haung
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  2. Sheng-Yung Su
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Correspondence to Yieh-Ran Haung.

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Haung, YR., Su, SY. An access-aware pricing strategy for the evolved packet system. Wireless Netw 21, 371–385 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-014-0791-1

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