Despite the advances in device capabilities and network throughput capabilities, the requirements of emerging rich multimedia services continue to impose challenges in meeting the requirements of end users, in particular in the context of mobile and wireless networks. Hence, increasing competition in the telecom market will be powered by the everlasting endeavour of both service and network providers to meet end users’ requirements in terms of service quality and expectations, commonly referred to as the user’s Quality of Experience (QoE). The overall goal of QoE management may be related to optimizing end-user QoE (end-user perspective), while making efficient (current and future) use of network/system resources and maintaining a satisfied customer base (provider perspective).

The project Cooperative Quality of Experience Management for Interactive Cloud-Based Multimedia Applications in Mobile Networks is a 36-month project funded by the Croatian Science Foundation that will  propose a cooperative QoE management scheme exploiting new QoE knowledge and business models centred around cooperative efforts between cloud/service providers and mobile network operators in order to achieve more efficient management of network/system resources, while enhancing the end user experience when using advanced multimedia applications. Novel approaches for coordination and information exchange among actors involved in the service delivery chain will be proposed beyond those available in today's networks. Resource allocation and service adaptation algorithms will be proposed targeting different optimization strategies and taking into account multiple stakeholder perspectives.

One of the key contributions of the project will be the development of novel QoE models for the following highly interactive target applications, to be used as input in designing and evaluating the effectiveness of a cooperative QoE management scheme: 

• Mobile Cloud Gaming (MCG): represents one of the most compute and mobile bandwidth intensive applications, involving real-time user interaction with a cloud system through sent user commands, and the streaming of rendered video from the cloud to a mobile device.
• Mobile Multi-Party Video Chat application (MMVC): use case based on human-human interaction, incorporating real-time audiovisual communications among groups of users

The main objectives of Q-MANIC are:

• Objective 1: Set-up of a laboratory infrastructure and necessary tools for conducting experimental QoE evaluation and management tests for mobile interactive cloud-based multimedia applications (QoE-MediaLab).
• Objective 2: Identification of key QoE influence factors and development of validated end-user QoE models for target mobile interactive cloud-based multimedia applications.
• Objective 3: Formulation of QoE-driven application adaptation strategies based on empirical results (Objective 2).
• Objective 4: Formulation and evaluation of QoE-driven algorithms for network/system resource allocation and multimedia application adaptation in mobile networks based on different optimization strategies and cooperative business models.
• Objective 5: Design and evaluation of a cooperative cross-layer QoE management scheme for delivering interactive cloud-based multimedia applications in mobile networks.