Video Bitrate Probing for Quality-Preserving Low-Latency Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video streaming technologies face a trade-off between high resolution and low latency, with buffering and connectionless protocols leading to unpredictable latency and quality issues, especially in real-time two-way communication scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A streaming service sends test data at an additional bit rate to end points while streaming video, incrementally increasing the bit rate until a threshold quality decline occurs or the next available bit rate is reached, allowing seamless switching to higher bit rates without compromising latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the bit rate of the video is increased to provide high resolution video, then video quality is improved, but latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by sending probe packets before actually switching to a higher bit rate stream. These probe packets test network capacity in advance, allowing the system to determine if a bit rate increase is feasible before committing to it, thus avoiding latency associated with reactive adjustments and buffering.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from probe packet transmission results to dynamically adjust the video bit rate. By monitoring network response to probe packets and using this feedback to determine whether to switch bit rates, the system optimizes video quality while maintaining low latency through informed, real-time decisions.
2Manufacturing precision
If buffering is used to download higher bit rate video segments, then video quality can be maintained, but latency increases making real-time communication impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the bit rate testing function from the main video data stream by using separate probe packets. This separation allows the system to test network capacity without buffering video segments, removing the latency-inducing buffering step while preserving the ability to maintain video quality through informed bit rate selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses inexpensive, disposable probe packets instead of valuable video data for network testing. These probe packets are sent, evaluated, and discarded, providing the necessary network capacity information without requiring buffering of actual video content, thus avoiding latency while maintaining quality.
3Loss of time
If connectionless protocols like UDP are used to reduce latency, then real-time communication is enabled, but packet loss and jitter occur affecting video quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from probe packet delivery status to assess network reliability before committing to higher bit rates. By monitoring whether probe packets arrive successfully, the system can make informed decisions about bit rate switching that account for packet loss and jitter, maintaining video quality while using connectionless protocols for low latency.
4Manufacturing precision
If the system switches between different bit rate streams adaptively, then video quality can be optimized for network conditions, but the complexity of managing multiple streams increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses probe packets as intermediaries between the network conditions and the bit rate selection decision. These probe packets serve as a simple mediator that provides network capacity information without requiring complex analysis or management of multiple video streams, simplifying the decision-making process while maintaining video quality optimization.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and software technology for optimizing the streaming video to end points while maintaining low latency. In an implementation, a streaming service receives video data for distribution to a plurality of end points. For each end point, the service streams the video data at a given bit rate to the end point. While the video is being streamed, the service sends test data to the end point at an additional bit rate. The service also increases the additional bit rate of the test data until a threshold decline in quality of the video data occurs or until a total bit rate of the video data and the test data reaches a next available bit rate for the video data. The service conditionally switches from the given bit rate to the next available bit rate if the total bit rate has reached the next available bit rate.