Quality-based Adaptive Video Over the Internet

IP networks and the Internet in general are subject to a wide range of fluctuations of the end-to-end bit rate available to applications. This uncertainty has motivated the development of adaptive applications, i.e., applications that can adjust their resource requirements as a function of what the network can provide. In this paper, we explore an adaptation scheme that is not directly driven by these fluctuations, but based on the impact they have on the quality perceived by the application. Our focus is on the potential benefits of such a “quality-based” adaptation approach for video applications. We begin with a brief introduction of objective video quality assessment and its integration into an adaptive transmission system. Next, we discuss the joint impact of packet loss and encoding rate on video quality, based on which a simple quality feedback-control system has been built. Adaptation is carried out by measuring the quality of the received video and comparing it to a baseline reference. Our preliminary experimental results show both the viability and the benefits of using video quality as the basis of adaptation. Possible directions of future research are also discussed at the end of the paper.

[1]  Yin Zhang,et al.  On the constancy of internet path properties , 2001, IMW '01.

[2]  Vivek K. Goyal,et al.  RTP Payload Format for MPEG1/MPEG2 Video , 1996, RFC.

[3]  Kang-Won Lee,et al.  An integrated source coding and congestion control framework for video streaming in the Internet , 2000, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2000. Conference on Computer Communications. Nineteenth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies (Cat. No.00CH37064).

[4]  Ya-Qin Zhang,et al.  Transporting real-time video over the Internet: challenges and approaches , 2000, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[5]  Stephen Wolf.  In-Service Performance Metrics for MPEG-2 Video Systems , 1998 .

[6]  Nick Feamster,et al.  Packet Loss Recovery for Streaming Video , 2002 .

[7]  Arun N. Netravali,et al.  Digital Video: An introduction to MPEG-2 , 1996 .

[8]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  RAP: An end-to-end rate-based congestion control mechanism for realtime streams in the Internet , 1999, IEEE INFOCOM '99. Conference on Computer Communications. Proceedings. Eighteenth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies. The Future is Now (Cat. No.99CH36320).

[9]  Pascal Frossard,et al.  MPEG-2 over lossy packet networks QoS Analysis and Improvement , 1998 .

[10]  Mark Handley,et al.  Equation-based congestion control for unicast applications , 2000, SIGCOMM.

[11]  Margaret H. Pinson,et al.  Spatial-temporal distortion metric for in-service quality monitoring of any digital video system , 1999, Optics East.

[12]  Vern Paxson,et al.  End-to-end Internet packet dynamics , 1997, SIGCOMM '97.

[13]  Pascal Frossard,et al.  User-Oriented QoS Analysis in MPEG-2 Video Delivery , 1999, Real Time Imaging.

[14]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  Quality adaptation for congestion controlled video playback over the Internet , 1999, SIGCOMM '99.

[15]  Sally Floyd,et al.  Promoting the use of end-to-end congestion control in the Internet , 1999, TNET.

[16]  Magda El Zarki,et al.  Understanding Video Quality and its use in Feedback Control , 2002 .

[17]  Stephen Wolf.  The Relationship Between Performance and Spatial-Temporal Region Size for Reduced-Reference, In-Service Video Quality Monitoring Systems , 2001 .

[18]  Vern Paxson.  End-to-end internet packet dynamics , 1999, TNET.