Optimizing a Playout Buffer with Queueing Performance Metrics for One-Way Streaming Video

Abstract

In this paper we consider a playout buffer with two thresholds based on its occupancy. Playout begins when the occupancy exceeds one threshold, say L o, while it slows down the playout rate in order to prevent buffer starvation whenever the occupancy drops below the other threshold, say L u(les L o). The design parameters here are two thresholds and the reduction factor of the playout rate whose optimal values are sought by minimizing a cost function with constraints. The cost function consists of queueing performance metrics, such as starvation probability, frame loss probability and the quality degradation probability by slowing down playout rate, while the constraints are given as excess preroll delay distribution, excess slow-down playout time distribution and the coefficient of variation of the departure process from the playout buffer. In numerical studies, we present optimal values of those parameters.