Proactive Energy-Aware video Streaming to Mobile handheld Devices

In this paper, we present a adaptive middleware solution for power-aware video streaming to mobile handheld devices. Using knowledge of dynamic device parameters(e.g residual energy), changing network noise levels and device mobility patterns, the middleware dynamically determines video streaming properties(e.g video burst sizes) to maximize the user QoS(reduce packet loss) while optimizing power consumption of the device. Specifically, we propose a proactive video transcoding and streaming technique that uses global system knowledge to effect power optimization, by transitioning the wireless NIC to sleep mode. Our performance results indicate that such a proactive scheme can reduce the energy consumption of network cards by as much as 70%, even in the presence of network noise and provide graceful video adaptations for better user experience.