A priority and path diversity-based approach for media streaming over multi-hop and unreliable networks

Abstract

Despite the recent advances, media streaming over multi-hop unreliable networks, such as the internet and wireless packet networks, is still challenging because of the dynamic and unpredictable nature of these networks. This paper proposes an approach that exploits paths' redundancies offered by multi-hop networks along with the differential sensitivity inherent in the encoded video information to enhance the quality of experience of video viewers in terms of the continuity of video playback, without compromising the quality of the reconstructed video. The performance of the proposed priority-and-path-diversity-based (PPD) video transmission scheme is compared through simulations with a best effort streaming model that mimics today's internet as well as a priority-based queuing streaming model that can be used in multi-hop wireless networks. The simulation results show that the proposed PPD streaming model outperforms the other two streaming models not only in the achieved video quality, as represented by the average peak signal to noise ratio, but also in terms of the average end-to-end delay and losses which are reflected by the instantaneous occupancy of the playback buffer at the viewer side.