Maximizing user utility in video streaming applications

• Published in: IEEE transactions on circuits and systems for video technology 2003-02, Vol.13 (2), p.141-148
• Main Authors: Luna, C.E., Kondi, L.P., Katsaggelos, A.K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Associate members; Bit rate; Broadcasting. Videocommunications. Audiovisual; Constraint optimization; Cost function; Decoding; Exact sciences and technology; Intelligent networks; IP networks; Quality of service; Streaming media; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Video sequences; Videocommunications (networks and services)
• ISSN: 1051-8215; 1558-2205
• DOI: 10.1109/TCSVT.2002.808439

We study some of the design tradeoffs of video streaming systems in networks with QoS guarantees. We approach this problem by using a utility function to quantify the benefit a user derives from the quality of the received video sequence. We also consider the cost to the network user for streaming the video sequence. We have formulated this utility maximization problem as a joint constrained optimization problem where we maximize the difference between the utility and the network cost, subject to the constraint that the decoder buffer does not underflow. In this manner, we can find the optimal tradeoff between video quality and network cost. We present a deterministic dynamic programming approach for both the constant bit rate and renegotiated constant bit rate service classes. Experimental results demonstrate the benefits and the performance of the proposed approach.