Performance evaluation of an adaptive-rate MPEG encoder matching IntServ traffic constraints

Promoting the evolution of the Internet from a simple data network to a true multiservice network constitutes a challenging task. To this end, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has set up the Integrated Services (IntServ) and Differentiated Services (DiffServ) Working Groups, with the goal of defining a next-generation Internet, in which traditional best-effort datagram delivery and additional enhanced quality of service delivery classes coexist. The IntServ framework, in particular, is designed to be used in the access network, and requires a traffic source with the capability of matching the traffic characteristics declared to the network, TSpec. We propose to use the rate control facility, usually implemented in current MPEG encoders to provide a constant bit rate, to shape the output traffic according to the declared TSpec while maintaining an acceptable perceived image quality. In order to assess this scenario, we introduce an SBBP/D/N/K queueing system, where the SBBP (switched batch Bernoulli process) emission is varied according to the quantizer scale parameter chosen by the addressed rate control mechanism. The analytical framework allows us: 1) to evaluate system performance in terms of both the marking probability of nonconforming output traffic and the quantization distortion introduced by the encoder; 2) to choose the TSpec parameters to be declared such that given performance parameters are respected.