Multipath-Based HTTP Adaptive Streaming Scheme for the 5G Network

Abstract

Fifth-generation (5G) communication has a non-line-of-sight (non-LOS) property, in that it cannot pass through obstacles due to the characteristics of ultra-high frequencies. This can lead to a high packet loss rate, which results in loss-based congestion. As the demand for high-quality video streaming services increases, multipath-based Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) adaptive streaming has been widely studied. It has the advantage of improving stability using bandwidth aggregation and alternative transmission. The request policies of existing systems degrade bandwidth utilization by the ON-OFF traffic pattern and degrade the quality-of-experience (QoE) due to incorrect bandwidth estimation. In the 5G environment, the above problems are exacerbated by severe network asymmetry, and buffer underflow occurs due to the drastic bandwidth changes in a non-LOS environment. We propose a multipath-based transmission scheme to solve the problem of HTTP adaptive streaming in a 5G environment. The proposed scheme presents a multipath-based collective segment request policy for accurate aggregated bandwidth estimation and bandwidth utilization improvement. The aggregated bandwidth estimation measures both block-based and segment-based bandwidth estimation values to improve network responsiveness and stability. We propose a rate adaptation scheme to improve bandwidth utilization and QoE. We also present a segment scheduler to solve the out-of-order problem in multipath-based transmission, and propose an offloading control scheme based on a partial-segment-based request policy to prevent buffer underflow due to sudden bandwidth reduction in the non-LOS 5G environment. Quantitative results from simulations suggest that our scheme solves the shortcomings of the existing solutions improving both bandwidth utilization and QoE.