Optimal DASH-multicasting over LTE

Abstract

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) is a fast growing video streaming platform which enables adaptive rate selection based on channel conditions. File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) further enables multicasting of the DASH segments over LTE eMBMS systems. In this paper, an optimal DASH-multicasting solution is proposed to allow more DASH clients in an LTE network to receive better videos by optimizing the resource allocation, Forward Error Correction (FEC) code rate and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of each multicasting group, which corresponds to a FLUTE session. Multiple FLUTE sessions are considered to deliver multiple videos and multiple video rates for enhancing the overall utility. We have applied the convex optimization method to find the optimal resource allocation in terms of utility for multiple FLUTE sessions. We also find the optimal FEC code rates to add redundancies to protect the video segments for each FLUTE session. Moreover, an efficient MCS selection is introduced to reduce the complexity of the algorithm. Simulation results, with realistic LTE parameters, are shown to prove the proposed scheme is optimal, with more DASH clients receiving better video representations within limited resources when compared to other existing algorithms.