Multipath Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP Using Scalable Video Coding in Software Defined Networking

Abstract

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) offers adaptive and dynamic multimedia streaming solutions to heterogeneous end systems. However, it still faces many challenges in determining an appropriate rate adaptation technique to provide the best quality of experience (QoE) to the end systems. Most of the suggested approaches rely on servers or client-side heuristics to improve multimedia streaming QoE. Moreover, using evolving technologies such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) that provide a network overview, combined with Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP), can enhance the QoE of streaming multimedia media based on scalable video coding (SVC). Therefore, we enhance our previous work and propose a Dynamic Multi Path Finder (DMPF) scheduler that determines optimal techniques to enhance QoE. DMPF scheduler is a part of the DMPF Scheduler Module (DSM) which runs as an application over the SDN controller. The DMPF scheduler accommodates maximum client requests while providing the basic representation of the media requested. We evaluate our implementation on real network topology and explore how SVC layers should be transferred over network topology. We also test the scheduler for network bandwidth usage. Through extensive simulations, we show clear trade-offs between the number of accommodated requests and the quality of the streaming. We conclude that it is better to schedule the layers of a request into the same path as much as possible than into multiple paths. Furthermore, these result would help service providers optimize their services.