AutoTune: Game-based Adaptive Bitrate Streaming in Cloud-Based Hybrid VoD Systems

Hybrid peer-to-peer assisted cloud-based video-on-demand (VoD) systems augment cloud-based VoD systems with P2P networks to improve scalability and save bandwidth costs in the cloud. In these systems, the VoD service provider (e.g., NetFlix) relies on the cloud to deliver videos to users and pays for the cloud bandwidth consumption. The users can download videos from both the cloud and peers in the P2P network. It is important for the VoD service provider to i) minimize the cloud bandwidth consumption, and ii) guarantee users’ satisfaction (i.e., quality-of-experience). Though previous adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR) methods improve video playback smoothness, they cannot achieve these two goals simultaneously. To tackle this challenge, we propose AutoTune, a game-based adaptive bitrate streaming method. In AutoTune, we formulate the bitrate adaptation problem in ABR as a noncooperative Stackelberg game, where VoD service provider and the users are players. The VoD service provider acts as a leader and it decides the VoD service price for users with the objective of minimizing cloud bandwidth consumption while ensuring users’ participation. In response to the VoD service price, the users select video bitrates that lead to maximum utility (defined as a function of its satisfaction minus associated VoD service fee). Finally, the Stackelberg equilibrium is reached in which the cloud bandwidth consumption is minimized while users are satisfied with selected video bitrates. To enhance the performance of AutoTune, we further propose the reputation-based incentive scheme and the popularity-based cache management scheme. Experimental results from the PeerSim simulator and the PlanetLab real-world testbed show that compared to existing methods, AutoTune can provide high user satisfaction and save cloud bandwidth consumption. Also, the proposed enhancement schemes are effective in improving the performance of AutoTune.