Scalable and resilient 360-degree-video adaptive streaming over HTTP/2 against sudden network drops

Abstract

Realistic Virtual Reality is supported by 360° video, which provides viewers with an immersive watching experience. However, 360°video is bulky in size, while the transmission system has limited ability to provide bandwidth. As such, intelligent adaptive delivery solutions play a crucial role in enabling users to stream high-quality 360°video. In this research, we propose a novel approach for 360-degree video streaming over HTTP/2 that can provide consumers with a good watching experience (QoE) even in varying network circumstances and head-eye movements over time. The proposed method deploys the so-called BBAG algorithm (Buffer and Bandwidth Allocation Algorithm) using Scalable Video Coding to choose appropriate tile layers to resolve the trade-off between network and user adaptivity. With the support of HTTP/2’s stream termination capability, the delivery of late tile layers is terminated to handle abrupt interruptions. By employing multiple buffer thresholds, BBAG is able to adapt bitrates to changes in users’ perspective while watching a 360-degree video. BBAG is proven to improve QoE up to about 90% by maintaining high and stable buffer level, while enhancing average viewport bitrates by about 80% compared to state-of-the-art methods in different scenarios of network bandwidths.