A lightweight network state estimation mechanism in ARQ-based wireless networks

Abstract

Most multimedia applications implement some kind of packet losses analysis mechanism to trigger self-adaptation actions. However, error recovery mechanisms such as ARQ variants avoid packet losses at IP level. Then, there appears an impact into the delay that may indeed result on application-level losses due to samples arriving later than the scheduled playout time. In most cases such degradations are not detected until they are so severe than even losses at IP level appear. We propose a lightweight method that achieves a finer grain estimation. We prove mathematically the capability of modified versions of statistics of delay to predict the error ratio of the wireless link and the load of the wired backhaul. After deducing also simplified heuristics for proposed method, we analyze their estimation capabilities and provide guidance for selecting appropriate parameters. Finally, we test and adjust the algorithm to an specific scenario including mobile video streaming and VoIP calls.