A Simple, Two-Level Markovian Traffic Model for IPTV Video Sources

To facilitate network performance analysis and simulations for IPTV traffic, a two-level Markovian traffic model is proposed in the paper. The model considers both spatial and temporal correlation in MPEG encoded video sequences, so it can mimic the highly variable data rate (VBR) behavior of IPTV sources. The model contains a Group of Pictures (GoP)- level Markov chain and a frame-level Markov chain, so it can capture both the inter-GoP and intra-GoP correlations. The proposed traffic model is simple to incorporate into network simulators, and can be used to obtain closed-form solutions of queue performance. Extensive simulations have been conducted to compare the network performance using the proposed model with the performance of a variety of real video traces. The results show that the accuracy of the proposed video source model is sufficient for the study of network performance. Therefore, it is an effective tool for performance evaluation of IPTV services via analysis and/or simulation.