Generating asymptotically optimal broadcasting schedules to minimize average waiting time (Q1045062)

In the paper under review, video-on-demand broadcasting systems are studied with the objective to minimize the average waiting time for the customers before they can start viewing. It is assumed that a fixed start points (FSP) scheme is used which means that the customers can start downloading at prespecified time points. A heuristic algorithm is presented which generates so-called harmonic block windows schedules. In simulation experiments it is shown that the average waiting time of the generated schedules asymptotically approaches a lower bound among all FSP schedules.