skip to main content
research-article

Playout buffer and rate optimization for streaming over IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

Published:14 August 2009Publication History
Skip Abstract Section

Abstract

Most streaming rate selection and buffer optimization algorithms are developed for wired networks and can perform poorly over wireless networks. Wireless MAC layer behavior, such as rate adaptation, retransmissions, and medium sharing, can significantly degrade the effectiveness of current streaming algorithms. This article presents the Buffer and Rate Optimization for Streaming (BROS) algorithm to improve streaming performance. BROS uses a bandwidth estimation tool designed specifically for wireless networks and models the relationship between buffer size, streaming data rate, and available bandwidth distribution. BROS optimizes the streaming data rate and initial buffer size, resulting in a high data rate but with few frame losses and buffer underflow events, while still keeping a small initial buffer delay. BROS is implemented in the Emulated Streaming (EmuS) client-server system and evaluated on an IEEE 802.11 wireless testbed with various wireless conditions. The evaluation shows that BROS can effectively optimize the streaming rate and initial buffer size based on wireless network bandwidth conditions, thus achieving better performance than static rate or buffer selection and jitter removal buffers.

References

  1. Angrisani, L., Botta, A., Pescape, A., and Vadursi, M. 2006. Measuring wireless links capacity. In Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Wireless Pervasive Computing, 1--5.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  2. Bai, G. and Williamson, C. 2004. The effects of mobility on wireless media streaming performance. In Proceedings of Wireless Networks and Emerging Technologies (WNET), 596--601.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Birney, B. 2004. Reducing start-up latency with Windows Media 9 series. Microsoft Online Documents.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  4. Bolot, J.-C. and Turletti, T. 1994. A rate control scheme for packet video in the internet. In Proceedings of Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies Infocom, 1216--1223.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  5. Cen, S., Cosman, P. C., and Voelker, G. M. 2003. End-to-end differentiation of congestion and wireless losses. IEEE/ACM Trans. Netw. 11, 5(1), 703--717. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  6. Chen, M. and Zakhor, A. 2005. Rate control for streaming video over wireless. IEEE Wirel. Comm. 12, 4, 32--41. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  7. Conklin, G. J., Greenbaum, G. S., Lillevold, K. O., Lippman, A. F., and Reznik, Y. A. 2001. Video coding for streaming media delivery on the Internet. IEEE Trans. Circ. Syst. Video Technol. 11, 3, 269--281. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  8. Damera-Venkata, N., Kite, T. D., Geisler, W. S., Evans, B. L., and Bovik, A. C. 2000. Image quality assessment based on a degradation model. IEEE Trans. Image Process. 9, 4, 636--650. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  9. Delgrossi, L., Halstrick, C., Hehmann, D., Herrtwich, R. G., Krone, O., Sandvoss, J., and Vogt, C. 1993. Media scaling for audiovisual communication with the Heidelberg transport system. In Proceedings of the 1st ACM International Conference on Multimedia, 99--104. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  10. Demircin, M. U. and van Beek, P. 2005. Bandwidth estimation and robust video streaming over 802.11E wireless lans. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME), 1250--1253.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  11. Feng, W.-C. and Sechrest, S. 1995. Smoothing and buffering for delivery of prerecorded compressed video. In Proceedings of IST/SPIE Multimedia Networking and Computing Conference, 234--242.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  12. Floyd, S., Handley, M., Padhye, J., and Widmer, J. 2000. Equation-based congestion control for unicast applications. In Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM Conference, 43--56. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  13. Fujimoto, K., Ata, S., and Murata, M. 2002. Adaptive playout buffer algorithm for enhancing perceived quality of streaming applications. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference and Exhibition on Global Telecommunications (GlobeCom). vol. 3, 2451--2457.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  14. Hsu, C.-Y., Ortega, A., and Khansari, M. 1999. Rate control for robust video transmission over burst-error wireless channels. IEEE J. Select. Areas Comm. 17, 5, 756--773. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  15. Jacobs, S., and Eleftheriadis, A. 1996. Providing video services over networks without quality of service guarantees. In Proceedings of the World Wide Web Consortium Workshop.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  16. Kalman, M., Steinbach, E., and Girod, B. 2004. Adaptive media playout for low delay video streaming over error-prone channels. IEEE Trans. Circ. Syst. Video Technol. 14, 6, 841--851. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  17. Kazantzidis, M. and Gerla, M. 2003. The impact of link layer assisted multimedia adaptation in wireless network. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Information Technology, Research and Education (ITRE), 326--330.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  18. Kohler, E., Handley, M., and Floyd, S. 2006. Designing DCCP: Congestion control without reliability. In Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM Conference, 27--38. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  19. Kuang, T. and Williamson, C. L. 2004. Hierarchical analysis of real-media streaming traffic on an IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN. Comput. Comm. 27, 6, 538--548. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  20. Lakshminarayanan, K., Padmanabhan, V. N., and Padhye, J. 2004. Bandwidth estimation in broadband access networks. In Proceedings of the Internet Measurement Conference (IMC 2004), 314--321. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  21. Laoutaris, N. and Stavrakakis, I. 2001. Adaptive playout strategies for packet video receivers with finite buffer capacity. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). Vol. 3, 969--973.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  22. Li, F., Chung, J., Li, M., Wu, H., Claypool, M., and Kinicki, R. 2005a. Application, network and link layer measurements of streaming video over a wireless campus network. In Proceedings of the 6th Passive and Active Measurement Workshop (PAM), 189--202. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  23. Li, K., Krasic, C., Walpole, J., Shor, M. H., and Pu, C. 2001. The minimal buffering requirements of congestion controlled interactive multimedia applications. In Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Interactive Distributed Multimedia Systems (IDMS '01), 181--192. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  24. Li, M., Claypool, M., and Kinicki, R. 2008. WBest: A bandwidth estimation tool for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. In Proceedings of the 33rd IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  25. Li, M., Claypool, M., Kinicki, R., and Nichols, J. 2005b. Characteristics of streaming media stored on the Web. ACM Trans. Internet Technol. 5, 4, 601--626. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  26. Li, M., Li, F., Claypool, M., and Kinicki, R. 2005c. Weather forecasting: Predicting performance for streaming video over wireless LANs. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Network and Operating System Support for Digital Audio and Video (NOSSDAV), 33--38. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  27. Li, Q. and van der Schaar, M. 2004. Providing adaptive QoS to layered video over wireless local area networks through real-time retry limit adaptation. IEEE Trans. Multimedia 6, 2, 278--290. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  28. Lin, S., Costello, D. J., Jr., and Miller, M. J. 1984. Automatic-repeat-request error-control schemes. IEEE Comm. Mag. 22, 12, 5--17.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  29. Moon, S. B., Kurose, J., and Towsley, D. 1998. Packet audio playout delay adjustment: Performance bounds and algorithms. Multimedia Syst. 6, 1, 17--28. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  30. Mundur, P., Sood, A., and Simon, R. 1999. Network delay jitter and client buffer requirements in distributed video-on-demand systems. Tech. rep., Department of Computer Science at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  31. Pinson, M. and Wolf, S. 2004. A new standardized method for objectively measuring video quality. IEEE Trans. Broadcast. 50, 3, 312--322.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  32. Prasad, R., Murray, M., Dovrolis, C., and Claffy, K. 2003. Bandwidth estimation: Metrics, measurement techniques, and tools. IEEE Netw. 17, 6, 27--35. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  33. Ramjee, R., Kurose, J., Towsley, D., and Schulzrinne, H. 1994. Adaptive playout mechanism for packetized audio applications in wide-area networks. In Proceedings of the IEEE Infocom, 680--688.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  34. Steinbach, E., Faerber, N., and Girod, B. 2001. Adaptive playout for low-latency video streaming. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 962--965.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  35. Stockhammer, T., Jenkac, H., and Kuhn, G. 2004. Streaming video over variable bit-rate wireless channels. IEEE Trans. Multimedia 6, 2, 268--277. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  36. van Beek, P. and Demircin, M. U. 2005. Delay-constrained rate adaptation for robust video transmission over home networks. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP). Vol. 2, 173--176.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  37. van Beek, P., Deshpande, S., Pan, H., and Sezan, I. 2004. Adaptive streaming of high-quality video over wireless LANs. In Proceedings of the Conference on Visual Communications and Image Processing, 647--660.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  38. van den Branden Lambrecht, C. J. and Verscheure, O. 1996. Perceptual quality measure using a spatio-temporal model of the human visual system. In Proceedings of SPIE, 450--461.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  39. Wang, Z., Banerjee, S., and Jamin, S. 2003. Studying streaming video quality: From an application point of view. In Proceedings of the 11th ACM International Conference on Multimedia, 327--330. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  40. Wang, Z., Lu, L., and Bovik, A. 2002. Video quality assessment using structural distortion measurement. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing. Vol. 3, 65--68.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  41. Yang, F., Zhang, Q., Zhu, W., and Zhang, Y.-Q. 2004. End-to-end TCP-friendly streaming protocol and bit allocation for scalable video over wireless internet. IEEE J. Select. Areas Comm. 22, 4, 777--790. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  42. Yang, G., Gerla, M., and Sanadidi, M. Y. 2004. Adaptive video streaming in presence of wireless errors. In Proceedings of IFIP/IEEE Management of Multimedia Networks and Services (MMNS), 26--38.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  43. Yuang, M., Liang, S., Chen, Y., and Shen, C. 1996. Dynamic video playout smoothing method for multimedia applications. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). vol. 3, 1365--1369.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  44. Yuang, M. C., Tien, P. L., and Liang, S. T. 1997. Intelligent video smoother for multimedia communications. IEEE J. Select. Areas Comm. 15, 2, 136--146. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  45. Zink, M., Kunzel, O., Schmitt, J., and Steinmetz, R. 2003. Subjective impression of variations in layer encoded videos. In Proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Quality of Service (IWQoS), 137--154. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

Index Terms

  1. Playout buffer and rate optimization for streaming over IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

      Recommendations

      Comments

      Login options

      Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

      Sign in

      Full Access

      • Published in

        cover image ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications
        ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications  Volume 5, Issue 3
        August 2009
        204 pages
        ISSN:1551-6857
        EISSN:1551-6865
        DOI:10.1145/1556134
        Issue’s Table of Contents

        Copyright © 2009 ACM

        Publisher

        Association for Computing Machinery

        New York, NY, United States

        Publication History

        • Published: 14 August 2009
        • Revised: 1 August 2008
        • Accepted: 1 August 2008
        • Received: 1 November 2006
        Published in tomm Volume 5, Issue 3

        Permissions

        Request permissions about this article.

        Request Permissions

        Check for updates

        Qualifiers

        • research-article
        • Research
        • Refereed

      PDF Format

      View or Download as a PDF file.

      PDF

      eReader

      View online with eReader.

      eReader
      About Cookies On This Site

      We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.

      Learn more

      Got it!