Comparison of in-network versus Staggered Multicast video distribution models

Abstract

This paper proposes a new video distribution service: Video-In-Network (VIN). In VIN, videos are continuously circulating in an optical network where they can be easily retrieved by VIN Nodes. A mathematical model of the VIN system was derived and used to explore the performance of VIN in terms of the maximum number of concurrent video streams which can be supported by the system. We then compared VIN with Staggered Multicast. We found that VIN has a number of advantages over Staggered Multicast. First, VIN is more scalable in terms of the number of streams/channels. Second, the startup latency of VIN is shorter than that of Staggered Multicast. Third, Staggered Multicast is a near-VOD system and the video clients usually have no specific channels to the server to request for video. In the VIN system, the video clients can request the VIN Node for particular videos for multicast or unicast on demand.