Quality selection for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP with Scalable Video Coding

Video streaming on the Internet is increasingly using Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), which allows a client to dynamically adjust its video quality by choosing the appropriate quality level for each segment based on the current download rate. In this paper we examine the impact of Scalable Video Coding (SVC) on the client's quality selection policy. Given a variable download rate, when should the client try to maximize the current segment's video quality, and when should it instead play it safe and ensure a minimum level of quality for future segments? We use a combination of analysis, dynamic programming, and simulation to show that a client should use a diagonal quality selection policy, which combines prefetching with backfilling to balance both of these concerns. We also illustrate the conditions that affect the slope of the diagonal policy.