Video Bitrate Selection Using Predicted Playback Speed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video streaming systems struggle to provide a seamless playback experience due to varying user playback speeds and network conditions, leading to rebuffering and stalls.
Innovation Solution
Determine a predicted playback speed based on historical user video playback data and content characteristics to select an optimal video bitrate and control the buffer accordingly, ensuring a proper amount of video is cached to match user preferences and network capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If video bitrate is increased to support higher playback speed, then playback speed capability is improved, but network bandwidth requirement and device performance requirement increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of historical playback data and content characteristics before video playback begins to predict the user's preferred playback speed. This prediction is used to pre-select the optimal bitrate, avoiding the need for real-time bitrate adjustment and reducing network bandwidth fluctuations during playback.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors actual playback behavior and uses this feedback to refine future playback speed predictions. By analyzing historical data patterns, the system learns user preferences and adjusts bitrate selections accordingly, creating a feedback loop that improves accuracy over time.
2Loss of energy
If video bitrate is decreased to reduce network bandwidth requirement, then network bandwidth consumption is reduced, but video resolution and quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the bitrate parameter based on predicted playback speed and historical user preferences. By changing the bitrate parameter to match the actual playback speed needed, the system optimizes the balance between bandwidth consumption and video quality, ensuring sufficient quality for the intended playback speed while minimizing unnecessary bandwidth usage.
3Reliability
If buffer size is increased to reduce rebuffering, then playback continuity is improved, but device memory consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts buffer size based on the predicted playback speed and network conditions. For higher playback speeds, the buffer is appropriately sized to prevent rebuffering, while for lower speeds the buffer is reduced to minimize memory consumption. This dynamic adaptation ensures optimal balance between playback continuity and memory usage.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for determining a bitrate for a video to be streamed and controlling a buffer for streaming the video are disclosed. One example method includes receiving, from a streaming service, a predicted playback speed of a video to be played on the device and a probability of the predicted playback speed, wherein the predicted playback speed is determined based on a plurality of video playback speeds of a plurality of videos played by the user, and the probability of the predicted playback speed comprises a probability that the user will change a playback speed of the video from a first playback speed to the predicted playback speed during a playback of the video; determining, based on the predicted playback speed, a version of the video to be provided to the device; and sending, to the streaming service, a request to stream the version of the video.