Adaptive Streaming Bandwidth Reduction via Objective Quality Metrics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adaptive bitrate streaming techniques do not consider variations in media content over time, resulting in unnecessarily high bandwidth usage due to a bandwidth-centric approach that does not account for changes in content quality.
Innovation Solution
The method involves encoding video programs into sections with different bitrates and swapping co-located sections with imperceptibly different objective quality levels during streaming, allowing for reduced bandwidth usage while maintaining perceptual quality by replacing higher bitrate sections with lower bitrate sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional adaptive bitrate streaming selects higher bitrate to meet acceptable perceptual quality, then perceptual quality is maintained, but streaming bandwidth consumption increases unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the bitrate selection content-dependent rather than uniformly high across all segments. By analyzing objective quality metrics of specific video segments and comparing them against perceptual thresholds, the system selectively reduces bitrate only where quality variations are imperceptible, maintaining high quality where needed and reducing bandwidth where possible.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter selection criteria from purely bandwidth-centric to a hybrid approach incorporating objective quality measurements. By introducing quality threshold parameters and comparing actual segment quality against these thresholds, the system dynamically adjusts bitrate selection to optimize the trade-off between perceptual quality and bandwidth consumption.
2Ease of operation
If conventional streaming uses bandwidth-centric determination without considering content variations, then implementation is simple, but bandwidth efficiency deteriorates due to unnecessarily high bitrates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing objective quality metrics for each video segment during the encoding phase. This pre-computed quality information is then readily available during streaming to guide bitrate selection, avoiding the need for complex real-time quality analysis and maintaining operational simplicity while improving bandwidth efficiency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If adaptive streaming continuously monitors bandwidth conditions, then streaming adaptability is improved, but system complexity increases without considering content quality variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing objective quality metrics during video encoding and embedding them in the video data structure. This shifts the computational burden from the client device during streaming to the server during encoding, allowing the client to make simple quality-comparisons without complex processing, thus maintaining adaptability while reducing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes identifying replaceable sections among first sections of video encoded at a first bitrate, and replacement sections of the video each encoded at a bitrate that is less than the first bitrate and having encoded therein the video of a corresponding one of the replaceable sections, each replacement section and the corresponding replaceable section having respective measured levels of objective quality that meet a predetermined criterion of objective quality. The method further comprises streaming the first sections of video except for the replaceable sections, and the replacement sections instead of the corresponding replaceable sections.