Handoff Characterization of Multipath Video Streaming

Video streaming has become the major source of Internet traffic nowadays. Considering that content delivery network providers utilize Video over Hypertext Transfer Protocol/ Transmission Control Protocol (HTTP/TCP) as the preferred protocol stack for video streaming, understanding TCP performance in transporting video streams has become paramount. Recently, multipath transport protocols have allowed streaming of video over multiple paths. In this paper, we analyze the impact of handoffs on multipath video streaming and network performance on WiFi and cellular paths. We utilize network performance measures, as well as video quality metrics, to characterize the performance and interaction between network and application layers of video data for various network scenarios.Twelfth International Conference on Evolving Internet (INTERNET 2020), October 18-22, 2020, Porto, Portuga

A Cross-layer Approach for MPTCP Path Management in Heterogeneous Vehicular Networks

Multipath communication has recently arisen as a promising tool to address reliable communication in vehicular networks. The architecture of Multipath TCP (MPTCP) is designed to facilitate concurrent utilization of multiple network interfaces, thereby enabling the system to optimize network throughput. In the context of vehicular environments, MPTCP offers a promising solution for seamless roaming, as it enables the system to maintain a stable connection by switching between available network interfaces. This paper investigates the suitability of MPTCP to support resilient and efficient Vehicleto-Infrastructure (V2I) communication over heterogeneous networks. First, we identify and discuss several challenges that arise in heterogeneous vehicular networks, including issues such as Head-of-Line (HoL) blocking and service interruptions during handover events. Then, we propose a cross-layer path management scheme for MPTCP, that leverages real-time network information to improve the reliability and efficiency of multipath vehicular communication. Our emulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme not only achieves seamless mobility across heterogeneous networks but also significantly reduces handover latency, packet loss, and out-of-order packet delivery. These improvements have a direct impact on the quality of experience for vehicular users, as they lead to lower application layer delay and higher throughput

Managing Path Switching in Multipath Video Streaming

Video streaming has become the major source of Internet traffic nowadays. Considering that content delivery network providers utilize Video over Hypertext Transfer Protocol/Transmission Control Protocol (HTTP/TCP) as the preferred protocol stack for video streaming, understanding TCP performance in transporting video streams has become paramount. Recently, multipath transport protocols have allowed video streaming over multiple paths to become a reality. In this paper, we analyze the impact of path switching on multipath video streaming and network performance, and propose new schedulers which minimize the number of path switching. We utilize network performance measures, as well as video quality metrics, to characterize the performance and interaction between network and application layers of video streams for various network scenarios.The Eleventh International Conference on Evolving Internet (INTERNET 2019), June 30 to July 04, 2019, Rome, Ital

QAware: A Cross-Layer Approach to MPTCP Scheduling

Multipath TCP (MPTCP) allows applications to transparently use all available network interfaces by creating a TCP subflow per interface. One critical component of MPTCP is the scheduler that decides which subflow to use for each packet. Existing schedulers typically use estimates of end-to-end path properties, such as delay and bandwidth, for making the scheduling decisions. In this paper, we show that these scheduling decisions can be significantly improved by incorporating readily available local information from the device driver queues in the decision-making process. We propose QAware, a novel cross-layer approach for MPTCP scheduling. QAware combines end-to-end delay estimates with local queue buffer occupancy information and allows for a better and faster adaptation to the network conditions. This results in more efficient use of the available resources and considerable gains in aggregate throughput. We present the design of QAware and evaluate its performance through simulations, and also through real experiments, comparing it to existing schedulers. Our results show that QAware performs significantly better than other available approaches for various use-cases and applications.Comment: in Proceedings of IFIP Networking 2018, 2018 available at: https://files.ifi.uzh.ch/stiller/IFIP%20Networking%202018-Proceedings.pd

Path Schedulers Performance on Cellular/Wi-Fi Multipath Video Streaming

Internet traffic nowadays is predominantly composed by video streaming. Moreover, most video streaming traffic is carried over Hypertext Transfer Protocol/Transmission Control Protocol (HTTP/TCP). Understanding TCP stack performance in transporting video streams has become paramount, specially in face of recent multipath transport protocol evolutions and multiple client device interfaces available. In this paper, we characterize path schedulers performance of streaming of video sessions over cellular and Wi-Fi access networks, the two most common and dominant wireless technologies in the market. We use network performance level as well as video quality level metrics to characterize multiple path schedulers and resulting network and application layers’ interactions.Thirteenth International Conference on Evolving Internet (INTERNET 2021), 18-22, July, 2021, Nice, Franc