QoE-aware Media Streaming in Technology and Cost Heterogeneous Networks

TL;DR

This paper develops a framework for media streaming in heterogeneous networks, balancing cost and quality of experience using control policies derived from Markov decision processes and network coding techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical approach to optimize media streaming by integrating network coding and cost-quality trade-offs through MDP and HJB equations.

Findings

Optimal control policies improve user experience significantly.

Alternative access networks enhance streaming quality without bandwidth over-provisioning.

Threshold policies are proven optimal in fluid approximation models.

Abstract

We present a framework for studying the problem of media streaming in technology and cost heterogeneous environments. We first address the problem of efficient streaming in a technology-heterogeneous setting. We employ random linear network coding to simplify the packet selection strategies and alleviate issues such as duplicate packet reception. Then, we study the problem of media streaming from multiple cost-heterogeneous access networks. Our objective is to characterize analytically the trade-off between access cost and user experience. We model the Quality of user Experience (QoE) as the probability of interruption in playback as well as the initial waiting time. We design and characterize various control policies, and formulate the optimal control problem using a Markov Decision Process (MDP) with a probabilistic constraint. We present a characterization of the optimal policy using the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. For a fluid approximation model, we provide an exact and explicit characterization of a threshold policy and prove its optimality using the HJB equation. Our simulation results show that under properly designed control policy, the existence of alternative access technology as a complement for a primary access network can significantly improve the user experience without any bandwidth over-provisioning.