A seamless Web integration of adaptive HTTP streaming

IEEE MultiMedia, 2018

Adaptive streaming protocols over HTTP (HAS), such as MPEG-DASH, have become the de-facto solutions to deliver video over the Internet. By avoiding buffer stalling, HAS increases end-user's Quality of Experience (QoE). These solutions always bind a client to one server. We propose to extend HAS capabilities to multiple-source streaming, which offers the opportunity to obtain higher QoE by exploiting expanded bandwidth and link diversity in distributed streaming infrastructures. We expose a pragmatic evolving DASH-compliant solution for dynamic adaptive Multiple-Source Streaming over HTTP (MS-Stream) that simultaneously utilizes several servers. We validated our approach using network profiles from DASH Industry Forum and Internet users. Our solution is compared to optimal-yet practically unfeasible-DASH solutions in multiple-source environments and over several QoE criteria. Results show the QoE gains of using MS-Stream against DASH; an online demonstration of our work is available.

Journal 4 Research - J4R Journal, 2016

The increasing use of digital video has put into perspective the storage requirements for a large number of video files. Different qualities of videos are available and each of these requires different storage areas. Different variety of devices having different pixel densities uses these files and accordingly has varying video processing capabilities. This paper presents a novel multimedia video encoding/decoding algorithm which is responsive to the device and responds to the device capabilities. This involves a lightweight , multi-layered approach whereby the video streams are divided into different layers and these are differentially loaded as per the quality requirements. This differential loading involves the progressive decoding algorithm for the video stream and henceforth a single file to be used vary the bit rate depending on several factors like the device processing capabilities, available memory, screen width and pixel density for different quality requirements. By in cooperating this method to WebRTC framework, the quality of video can be varied according to the network congestions. Our analysis reveals that this method is far more efficient than transcoding-on-air method which is used by multimedia servers which require special hardware support. For normal servers which use HTML5 for playback of video, this method reduces the total bandwidth required and saves a lot of storage space which results in smooth streaming over the web. This new approach makes the video files adaptive to the different devices on which they are running.

Proceedings of the 23rd ACM international conference on Multimedia, 2015

HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) is today the number one video technology for over-the-top video distribution. In HAS, video content is temporally divided into multiple segments and encoded at different quality levels. A client selects and retrieves per segment the most suited quality version to create a seamless playout. Despite the ability of HAS to deal with changing network conditions, HAS-based live streaming often suffers from freezes in the playout due to buffer under-run, low average quality, large camera-to-display delay, and large initial/channel-change delay. Recently, IETF has standardized HTTP/2, a new version of the HTTP protocol that provides new features for reducing the page load time in Web browsing. In this paper, we present ten novel HTTP/2-based methods to improve the quality of experience of HAS. Our main contribution is the design and evaluation of a push-based approach for live streaming in which super-short segments are pushed from server to client as soon as they become available. We show that with an RTT of 300 ms, this approach can reduce the average server-todisplay delay by 90.1 % and the average start-up delay by 40.1 %.

nem-summit.eu

Motivated by the revolution in the media industry brought by recent developments in video access and sharing, this paper investigates the future of internet video. We present new web standards such as HTML5, promising unified, simple and platform independent access to video files and streams, as well as novel techniques for adaptive video coding. We also analyze how these techniques can be used both over traditional client server and novel P2P based media distribution models. This analysis is followed by a description of the remaining challenges for making video a true citizen of the Web.

IJMRAP, 2023

This paper explores the dynamic landscape of adaptive video streaming technologies with a keen focus on addressing global perspectives. In an era marked by diverse internet infrastructures, network conditions, and user behaviors worldwide, the importance of adapting streaming solutions to cater to these variations becomes paramount. The investigation begins with an overview of current adaptive streaming technologies, shedding light on protocols such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). These technologies dynamically adjust video quality based on the viewer's network conditions, offering a seamless and personalized viewing experience. The examination delves into the impact of diverse network conditions on adaptive streaming, emphasizing the adaptability of these technologies to fluctuating speeds and reliability across different regions. Insights into user experiences, considering factors such as video quality, buffering, and latency, contribute to understanding the complexities of providing a consistent streaming experience globally. This paper underscores the significance of addressing global perspectives in adaptive streaming research and development. By acknowledging disparities in internet infrastructure, network conditions, and regulatory environments, researchers can develop algorithms and solutions that bridge the digital divide. The global nature of internet usage demands a nuanced approach that considers cultural preferences, user behaviors, and regulatory challenges. Collaboration among researchers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers is essential to share insights, best practices, and innovations that can contribute to the development of adaptive streaming technologies on a global scale. In conclusion, the paper advocates for a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by global internet usage. By emphasizing global perspectives in adaptive streaming research, the goal is to contribute to the creation of technologies that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, fostering a more inclusive and optimized streaming experience for users across the globe.

Multimedia streaming has major commercial potential as the global community of online video viewers is expanding rapidly following the proliferation of low-cost multimedia-enabled mobile devices. These devices enable increasing amounts of video-based content to be acquired, stored, and distributed across existing best effort networks that also carry other traffic types. Although a number of protocols are used for video transfer, a significant portion of the Internet streaming media is currently delivered over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Network congestion is one of the most important issues that affects networking traffic in general and video content delivery. Among the various solutions proposed, adaptive delivery of content according to available network bandwidth was very successful. In this context, the most recent standardisation efforts have focused on the introduction of the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) (ISO, 2012) standard. DASH offers support for client-based bitrate video streaming adaptation, but as it does not introduce any particular adaptation mechanism, it relies on third party solutions to complement it. This chapter provides an overview of the DASH standard and presents a short survey of currently proposed mechanisms for video adaptation related to DASH. It also introduces the DASH-aware Performance-Oriented Adaptation Agent (dPOAA), which improves user Quality of Experience (QoE) levels by dynamically selecting best performing sources for the delivery of video content. dPOAA, in its functionality, considers the characteristics of the network links connecting clients with video providers. dPOAA can be utilised as a DASH player plugin or in conjunction with the DASH-based performance-oriented Adaptive Video Distribution solution (DAV) (Rovcanin & Muntean, 2013), which considers the local network characteristics, quantity of requested content available locally, and device and user profiles.

26th AIPR Workshop: Exploiting New Image Sources and Sensors, 1998

This paper describes the design and implementation of a real-time, streaming, Internet video and audio player. The player has a number of advanced features including dynamic adaptation to changes in available bandwidth, latency and latency variation; a multi-dimensional media scaling capability driven by user-specified quality of service (QoS) requirements; and support for complex content comprising multiple synchronized video and audio streams. The player was developed as part of the QUASAR † project at Oregon Graduate Institute, is freely available, and serves as a testbed for research in adaptive resource management and QoS control.

MPEG DASH provides formats that are suitable to stream media content over HTTP. Typically, the DASH client adaptively requests small chunks of media based on the available bandwidth and other resources. This client-pull technology has proven to be more flexible, firewall-friendly and CDN-scalable than server-push technologies. However, service providers have less control given the decentralized and client-driven nature of DASH, which introduces new challenges for them to offer a consistent and possibly higher quality of service for premium users. This issue is addressed by MPEG in a new work referred to as SAND: Server and Network-assisted DASH. The key features of SAND are asynchronous network-to-client and network-to-network communication, and the exchange of quality-related assisting information in such a way that it does not delay or interfere with the delivery of the streaming media content. MPEG has completed the work on SAND first edition and will be published as a new part of the MPEG DASH standard by early 2017.

Computer Networks, 2018

The HTTP-based Adaptive Streaming (HAS) techniques are widely used in Internet video streaming services, including YouTube and Netflix. The Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) is the latest international standard that facilitates the interoperability of different HAS techniques of various vendors. DASH specification defines the media presentation description (MPD), which describes a list of available content, URL addresses, and the segment format. The rate adaptation algorithms, however, are not part of the standard, and the details of the algorithms are left to vendors. As a result, there are many different algorithms adopted in both commercial and open source players while the detailed algorithms and their performance are barely understood. In this paper, we investigate the detailed operations of the different players by code level analysis and through reverse engineering. Specifically, we present the pseudo codes of 3 open source players and devise a method to obtain the detailed operation information, e.g., bitrate and buffer amount, of popular streaming players whose source codes are not publicly available. We conduct extensive experiments on our testbed and provide suggestions based on the behaviors of these players, including the repeated over-estimation of the available bandwidth, unfair bitrate selection when multiple players compete for the bandwidth, and insensitivity of Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol to the varying network bandwidth.

Proceedings of the 1st Mile-High Video Conference, 2022

The trend to consume high-quality videos over the internet lead to a high demand for sophisticated and robust video player implementations. dash.js is a prominent option for implementing production grade DASH-based applications and products, and is also widely used for academic research purposes. In this paper, we introduce the latest additions and improvements to dash.js. We focus on various features and use cases such as player performance and robustness, low latency streaming, metric reporting and digital rights management. The features and improvements introduced in this paper provide great benefits not only for media streaming clients, but also for the server-side components involved in the media stream process. CCS CONCEPTS • Information systems → Multimedia streaming; • Security and privacy → Digital rights management.