Distributed Video Substream Encoding for P2P Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Live video streaming to heterogeneous mobile devices is challenging due to computational burdens from transcoding and is prone to service disruptions from peer churn in P2P systems, where mobile devices have limited resources and processing power, leading to interruptions and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A method for generating multiple substreams from an original video stream, where each substream includes a common encoded frame and a non-overlapping portion, allowing for robust transmission and assembly at mobile devices, with error correction and redundancy to maintain continuous video playback even if one substream becomes unavailable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If video transcoding is performed at a single media server to meet heterogeneous mobile device requirements, then video adaptation to different devices is achieved, but server computational burden increases and service continuity is compromised under load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the video stream into multiple substreams, where each substream contains a common encoded frame and a non-overlapping portion of the encoded sequence. This segmentation allows the transcoding workload to be distributed across multiple servers, with each server handling a portion of the substreams. The mobile device can reconstruct the complete video by combining substreams from different servers, thereby maintaining service continuity even if one server is overloaded or unavailable.
2Reliability
If transcoding is distributed to multiple servers to reduce individual server burden, then service reliability improves, but system complexity increases due to coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-encoding the video sequence into multiple substreams with distinct non-overlapping portions before distribution. Each substream is independently prepared with its identifier and frame segments, so that when distributed to multiple servers, the coordination complexity is minimized. The mobile device simply needs to receive and combine substreams based on their identifiers, without requiring complex real-time coordination protocols between servers.
3Loss of energy
If P2P systems are used to reduce server costs, then computational burden on servers decreases, but service disruption occurs due to peer churn
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by creating redundant substreams with overlapping common encoded frames. When a peer leaves the P2P network unexpectedly, the mobile device can switch to receiving substreams from other peers without complete service disruption. The common encoded frames act as a cushion, allowing the device to maintain video playback continuity even during peer transitions, thereby stabilizing the P2P streaming service.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is described for streaming video data within a network, wherein the video data includes a sequence of frames. The method includes encoding the sequence of frames and generating a plurality of substreams from the encoded frames in this embodiment. Each of the plurality of substreams is assigned an identifier, and each substream includes a common encoded frame and a non-overlapping portion of the encoded sequence. The non-overlapping portion of the encoded sequence of each substream is selected from the encoded frames based on the identifier of the respective substream. The method also includes transmitting the plurality of substreams to a receiver in an embodiment.