Periodic broadcast with dynamic server selection

Abstract

Service replication is an effective way to address resource requirements and resource availability problem. Dynamic service selection enables clients to choose a server offering the best performance. Proper server selection is especially important for video streaming over the Internet due to its high bandwidth requirements. However, given the length of a typical video transmission, the server priorly selected may no longer be an optimal one for the duration of the entire transmission. More importantly, a server may fail during the transmission of a video. In this paper we examine the possibility of switching to another server during an on-going transmission for Periodic Broadcast schemes. Due to the timing requirements typical for Periodic Broadcast the server switch may cause playback disruptions. We analyze the magnitude of the problem and propose an easy to implement solution. We define the criteria, additional to the bandwidth availability for example, according to which a new server should be selected. The client is also required to delay its playback by the amount of time bounded by the server transmission offset. In addition, we propose an alternative method to ensure uninterrupted playback that relies on proxy caching. Simulation results show that our approach can significantly reduce the likelihood of playback disruptions.