End-to-end DASH platform including a network-based and client-based adaptive quality switching module

Abstract

This paper presents an end-to-end Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) platform, developed by using open-source components. It includes and allows the configuration of all the required steps along the end-to-end media delivery chain, from the encoding, segmentation and storage of the media content at the server side, to the delivery and adaptive consumption of the media content at the client side. A key component of this platform is the DASH client, developed using the GStreamer framework. It includes a module with a novel adaptive algorithm for switching between the available representations (i.e., qualities) of the media content at the server side, based on the available bandwidth and on internal conditions and features of the client (such as the buffer occupancy level, the battery level, its charging state and the CPU load). It also includes different modules to simulate specific values for these parameters, and to visualize their values and the value of the selected quality in real-time. A preliminary evaluation has proved the satisfactory performance of the overall platform. Finally, links to demo videos are provided to demonstrate the satisfactory performance and capabilities of this platform.