Mobile HTTP-based streaming using flexible LTE base station control

Abstract

This paper investigates the advantage of adopting a flexible resource control scheme when performing HTTP-based adaptive streaming across LTE systems. To guarantee video fluidity, mobile video streaming is known to require a large bandwidth overhead with respect to the net encoded video rate. The quality of a received video stream is impacted by variations in the size of the transmitted video packets (chunks), and by statistical fluctuations in the data rate at which the allocated downstream wireless channel operates. First, in considering an illustrative video scenario, we show that the chunk size distribution is heavy-tailed, and is well fit by a Gamma distribution. Second, we employ a HAS based proxy video manager and resource controller at the base station node. Based on the channel quality observed and reported by a mobile client, the manager selects the proper channel bandwidth and data rate levels at which to transmit the stream's chunks, in accordance with the selected encoded video rate and the configured Quality of Experience (QoE) level at which the user is targeted to receive the video stream.The communications data rate is also set to assure an acceptable low video reception stall probability. To illustrate the performance of such a dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme, we compare it with an operation that employs a stationary setting of the channel bandwidth, and we compute the gain achieved when such adaptations are performed at the base station node on a chunk by chunk basis. We show by analysis, and confirm by simulations, the improvements achieved in the system's performance behavior through the use of the adaptive resource allocation scheme.