A Novel Distributed Multi-Source Optimal Rate Control Solution for HTTP Live Video Streaming

HTTP live streaming delivers dynamically video content with varying bitrates to accommodate the dynamic real-time bandwidth fluctuations while considering diverse user preferences and device capabilities. Existing flow control solutions do not provide support for new features such as multi-source content transmission. In this paper, we propose a distributed multi-source rate control optimization algorithm (DMRCA) that maximizes the overall network bandwidth utility and improves viewer Quality of Experience (QoE). First, we model the rate control problem as a dual-optimized multi-source and multi-rate problem. Then, we decompose the problem into sub-problems of source rate selection and user rate adaptation and we prove that solving the original problem is equivalent to solving these two sub-problems. Furthermore, we propose DMRCA as a fully distributed algorithm to solve these sub-problems and derive an optimal solution and we discuss DMRCA’s complexity and convergence. Finally, through a series of simulation tests, we demonstrate the superiority of our proposed algorithm compared to alternative state-of-the-art solutions.