Removing path-switching cost in video delivery over multiple paths in mobile networks

Abstract

The pace at which powerful portable wireless consumer devices such as smartphones and tablets have been adopted has not been matched by the ability of mobile networks to deliver high-quality video streams consistently to such nomadic users. In this work, we propose CMT-NEMO, a novel concurrent multipath transfer scheme for the delivery of scalable video content to users in multihomed mobile networks such as those expected to be found in public transport scenarios. Recent research in this context has shown that the single largest limiting factor for perceived video quality is the overhead introduced by path switching operations in multihomed mobile networks. CMT-NEMO eliminates the need for path switching and, by removing the associated path switching latency, provides a substantial performance improvement across a wide range of bandwidths and test sequences. An average Y-PSNR improvement of 5.9 dB is achieved when compared with previously proposed schemes.