Experimental demonstration of SVC video streaming using QoS-aware multi-path routing over integrated services routers

Abstract

We construct an experiment testbed using commercial routers and demonstrate QoS-aware multi-path SVC video streaming with it. The testbed consists of six integrated services routers (Cisco 2900 Series) that are configured using a mesh topology. To realize QoS-aware multi-path routing efficiently, we develop a centralized automatic NC&M system that monitors link status proactively, calculates the multi-path routing scheme for each streaming session, and communicates with the routers' control plane to adjust their routing policies. For each streaming session, when the NC&M finds a better multi-path routing scheme, it reconfigures the routers to invoke a path-switching. The experimental results indicate that the multi-path SVC video streaming scheme reduces the packet loss rate (PLR) from 3.33% to 0.62% for the base layer (BL) packets, and to 1.71% for the enhancement layer (EL) packets. Additional experiments on video playback quality, video playback peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and delay jitter also verify that the multi-path scheme outperforms the single-path one significantly and utilizes the network resources more efficiently.