On the buffer dynamics of scalable video streaming over wireless network

The 3G mobile standard offers an unprecedented high speed digital service that can carry multimedia traffic such as video streaming. The distributed system buffers in the conventional client-server architecture absorb the fluctuations of channel conditions such as bit rate variations, delays and jitters. To enable easy control of the 3G system, the MPEG committee is developing scalable video coding technology that provides flexibility for transmission over wireless networks. This paper address issues in controlling these buffers that can impact and benefit the end-to-end system performance using the novel scalable video technology. Specifically, we explore the effects of diverse channel characteristics on the buffers performance tolerance, and its impact on the quality of service. A novel model-based adaptive media playout (AMP) buffer control is proposed to mitigate the risks of buffer outage.