EPIQ Streaming Media Encoding with Progressive Segment Erasure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video streaming technologies, such as HTTP-based Adaptive Streaming (HAS), face inefficiencies in network resource usage and oscillatory behavior due to reliance on TCP, leading to frequent changes in video bitrate and quality, which degrade the Quality-of-Experience (QoE) and impact the Over-The-Top (OTT) video market.
Innovation Solution
The Erasable Packets within Internet Queues (EPIQ) framework, which encodes packets as progressively priority-ranked segments, allowing for partial erasure of packets during network congestion, thereby maintaining high-quality video delivery with minimal network complexity, using a novel packetization scheme and Active Queue Management (AQM) mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If HTTP-based Adaptive Streaming (HAS) is used for video delivery, then deployment simplicity and firewall compatibility are improved, but network resource efficiency deteriorates and oscillatory behavior occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The video stream is segmented into multiple priority queues based on packet importance. High-priority packets (e.g., I-frames, key data) are placed in higher-priority queues while low-priority packets (e.g., B-frames, non-critical data) are placed in lower-priority queues. This segmentation allows differential treatment of packets during congestion, improving network resource efficiency by preserving critical video data while allowing non-critical data to be dropped.
2Reliability
If TCP protocol is used for video streaming, then connection reliability is improved, but oscillatory behavior and frequent bitrate changes occur
Solution Approach 1:
Different packets within the same video stream are assigned different quality priorities based on their importance to video reconstruction. Critical packets receive higher priority protection while non-critical packets are more readily dropped. This local quality differentiation allows the system to maintain stable bitrate by selectively preserving essential video data rather than uniformly adjusting the entire stream in response to congestion.
3Stability of the object's composition
If DiffServ multi-priority queuing is implemented, then video quality consistency is improved, but network complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network traffic is segmented into multiple priority queues at the source encoder, with each queue containing packets of similar importance. This segmentation is achieved through packet marking during encoding rather than requiring complex network-side classification. The segmented queues are then handled by standard router queuing mechanisms, reducing overall network complexity while maintaining quality consistency.
4Device complexity
If single node Active Queue Management with Priority Dropping is used, then queue management overhead is reduced, but the number of priority queues must be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts packet priorities and queue assignments based on real-time network conditions and video content characteristics. The encoder can adaptively re-prioritize packets within frames based on scene complexity, motion levels, and error propagation risks. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to effectively utilize multiple priority levels without requiring a proportional increase in fixed queue infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
The streaming media encoding and routing system employs an encoder circuit that constructs a streaming media sequence as a plurality of sequential frames, each frame comprising a plurality of segments. The encoder circuit has a processor that is programmed to place media information into the plurality of segments of each frame according to a predefined priority and further programmed to order the sequence of said segments within each frame such that the segments are progressively priority-ranked from high priority to low priority to define an EPIQ-encoded packet. A processor tests an incoming packet to determine whether it is EPIQ-encoded. The processor reduces network congestion when the received quality of service data indicates presence of network congestion by: (a) selectively and progressively erasing segments within an incoming packet beginning with a lowest-ranked priority segment if the incoming packet is determined to be EPIQ-encoded; and (b) dropping the entire incoming packet if the incoming packet is determined not be EPIQ-encoded.