Adaptive Feedback Algorithm for Internet Video Streaming based on Fuzzy Rate Control

It is beyond any doubt that the unpredictable nature of the today's Internet has tremendous impact on the transmission of video streams. With respect to the real-time nature of video streaming, unpredictable bandwidth, end-to-end delay and packet loss, are all problems that can affect video streaming over the Internet. The problem is worsened when we consider wireless and mobile users. In this paper we adopt Network Adaptation Techniques applied together with Content Adaptation Techniques to achieve graceful performance degradation as network load increases. We present a novel feedback mechanism and a fuzzy oriented decision algorithm which collectively provide video adaptation to network parameters. Our preliminary performance evaluations indicate that the fuzzy-based algorithm can finely sense the available bandwidth of the network path and adapt the video transmission rate accordingly, maintaining acceptable video quality.