Video delivery in networks with fluctuating bandwidth

Abstract

A 'client pull' mechanism is described by which applications can reliably transmit point-point video over a network with time varying bit rate. The system is particularly useful using Internet delivery over wireless networks, and is suitable for carrying live video. The problem is considered at the application level, using protocols such as TCP which will guarantee data delivery, however slowly. At a fixed image quality, the client requests frames which the server codes on demand. Latency can be overcome by the client using recent network performance to predict the time at which a frame should be requested.