Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for Video Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video streaming technologies over congested networks, such as TCP, often result in uneven bandwidth allocation, leading to undesirable delays and quality variations across different video streams, especially when streams have varying bitrates or activity levels, wasting network resources and affecting user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that dynamically adjust bandwidth allocation based on the bitrate of each video stream, using a modified TCP protocol to ensure each stream receives a bandwidth proportional to its requirements, allowing for constant quality encoding and varying bitrates to optimize network resource utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If TCP congestion control algorithm is used to manage network congestion, then network reliability is improved, but bandwidth allocation becomes uneven causing quality variations across different video streams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating bandwidth allocation based on individual stream characteristics. Each video stream receives a customized bandwidth share proportional to its bitrate requirements, rather than uniform treatment. The server identifies high-bitrate streams (e.g., sports sequences) and low-bitrate streams (e.g., news sequences) and allocates bandwidth accordingly, ensuring each stream maintains its quality level appropriate to its encoding requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the bandwidth allocation parameter dynamically based on stream bitrate characteristics. Instead of fixed or uniform bandwidth allocation, the system adjusts the bandwidth share parameter for each stream according to its bitrate, allowing high-bitrate streams to receive proportionally more bandwidth during congestion events while maintaining overall network stability and reliability.
2Ease of operation
If fixed bandwidth reservation is used for constant bitrate delivery, then ease of management is improved, but network resource efficiency deteriorates due to wasted bandwidth on low-activity streams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics to the bandwidth allocation system by transitioning from fixed bandwidth reservation to dynamic bandwidth sharing. The bandwidth allocation is no longer static but adapts in real-time based on actual network conditions and stream requirements. During non-congestion periods, low-bitrate streams use only the bandwidth they need, freeing up resources. During congestion, the system dynamically redistributes bandwidth based on stream priority and bitrate characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the bandwidth parameter from fixed to variable based on network conditions and stream characteristics. The system monitors network congestion levels and stream bitrate requirements, adjusting the bandwidth allocation parameter dynamically. This allows the network to efficiently utilize available bandwidth by allocating more to high-bitrate streams when needed and less to low-bitrate streams when sufficient capacity exists.
3Stability of the object's composition
If uniform bandwidth reduction is applied during network congestion, then network stability is improved, but video quality for high-bitrate streams deteriorates more significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by maintaining different quality levels for different video streams during congestion. Instead of uniform quality reduction, the system preserves quality for high-bitrate streams (such as sports sequences with high frame activity) while allowing more flexible quality adjustment for low-bitrate streams. Each stream's quality is maintained at an level appropriate to its encoding bitrate and content requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the bandwidth allocation parameter selectively for different streams based on their bitrate characteristics. During congestion, the system adjusts the bandwidth parameter for high-bitrate streams less aggressively than for low-bitrate streams, maintaining the proportionality relationship. This selective parameter adjustment ensures network stability while preserving video quality consistency across different stream types.
Data Source
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AI summary
The bitrate for any practical video streaming system will vary considerably as a function of the difficulty of encoding the sequence in question. This variation is even more apparent when comparing different video clips of different genres for example where sports clips might require a higher average bitrate and fluctuate more due to the high activity of typical scenes, whereas a news report clip might require a much lower bitrate and be relatively static. As such, to deliver video streams at a constant quality to users sharing a contended network, a constant bandwidth method is not efficient to use across all the streams. The bandwidth allocated to each stream must be allowed to dynamically vary in time in accordance with the precise demands of the video being streamed at that time and also be within any network bandwidth constraints. The present invention defines such a method.