On resource management and context-awareness in LTE-based networks for Public Safety

Abstract

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) has now become the leading candidate for facilitating interoperability and information sharing among different types of first responders, in what has come to be commonly known as Public Safety Networks (PSNs). However, research has shown that the bandwidth assigned to these networks will not be sufficient to support the offered load and the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of the applications. Thus, resource management and context-awareness become significantly important in maximizing the efficiency of the network and prioritizing the traffic according to its importance. This paper aims to formulate the problems of resource management and context-awareness in PSNs. Therefore, the main challenges and requirements of these problems will be identified. In addition, a condensed survey of some important resource management and context-awareness techniques will be offered. Furthermore, a conceptual framework that encompasses ideas for these topics in different layers will be proposed as a guide for future researchers. © 2013 IEEE.