Context-Aware and Reliable Transport Layer Framework for Interactive Immersive Media Delivery Over Millimeter Wave

In order to achieve truly immersive multimedia experiences, full freedom of movement has to be supported, and high-quality, interactive video delivery to the head-mounted device is vital. In wireless environments, this is very challenging due to the massive bandwidth and ultra-low delay requirements of such applications. Millimeter wave (mmWave) networks promise ultra-high speed owing to the availability of high-capacity bands at a frequency range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. However, they are prone to signal attenuation due to blockage and beam misalignment due to mobility, leading to packet loss and retransmissions. This can lead to the head-of-line blocking problem on the transport layer which results in playout stalls and delivery of lower quality data that can be highly detrimental to a user’s quality of experience (QoE). Complementary to research efforts trying to make mmWave networks more resilient through lower-layer enhancements, this paper presents a transport layer solution that provides an adaptive and reliable transmission over mmWave networks-based on partially reliable QUIC. Using context information retrieved periodically from the client to adapt according to the networking conditions induced due to mobility and obstacles, the essential part of the video content (i.e., in the viewport of the end user) is transmitted reliably, while less important content (i.e., outside of the viewport of the end user) is sent unreliably. Our decision-making logic is able to effectively deliver 22.5% more content in the viewport reliably. This is achieved without additional playout interruptions or quality changes for scenarios with high-bitrate volumetric video streaming evaluated over realistic mmWave network traces. In case the server can perfectly predict the network bandwidth, playout interruptions can be avoided altogether.