A fuzzy controller for rate adaptation in MPEG-DASH clients

The MPEG-Dynamic Adaptation Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) tries to improve the quality perceived by the user by allowing the user´s centric access to different resolutions of the video content via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). However, although it eliminates data packet loss, depending on the rate adaptation strategy adopted by the user, as well as, the network conditions, there may be playback interruptions. In this paper a novel MPEG-DASH adaptation scheme, the FDASH, is proposed, which, by employing fuzzy logic to control the buffering time and the resolution achieves the following: a) distributes the best possible resolution of video segments, b) delivers undisrupted video playback as a result of buffer underflows at the client, c) avoids unnecessary changes of video resolution owing to frequent fluctuations of the available connection throughput. Simulation results showed that the FDASH in comparison with other schemes succeeds in various network scenarios in providing the client with the best possible video rates avoiding buffer underflows and frequent changes of video resolution.