SDN Assisted Codec, Path and Quality Selection for HTTP Adaptive Streaming

Adaptive streaming over HTTP is the dominant video streaming technology for more than a decade. HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) systems provide a framework which enables clients to adapt quality with respect to network fluctuations during streaming, hence to optimize the perceived quality on the client side. Recently, network assistance is integrated with HAS in order to improve underlying network conditions and to provide network-related information to the clients. The performance of HAS systems can be further enhanced if the characteristics of the streamed video are considered. In this paper, we propose a HAS system architecture where Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology is utilized for assisting clients to select the most appropriate video codec and bitrate under the constraint of current network conditions as well as routing the video packet over the appropriate paths. In the proposed architecture, layered video is used, where each additional layer improves the quality. The controller estimates the packet loss probability by taking video codec characteristics, the bitrates of the layers and network capacity into account. Based on these estimations, the controller selects the appropriate codec type and video quality for the clients and manage the network. Simulation results show that the performance of the video streaming architecture can be improved significantly when codec, quality and path selection are jointly considered, and combined with SDN flexibility and advantageous.