Layer-encoded video streaming a proxy's perspective

This article describes a proxy's perspective in an architecture that supports efficient distribution of recorded video data in today's Internet. The support of layer-encoded video streaming with the aid of proxies enables a video distribution infrastructure that is efficient in today's Internet, and allows new mechanisms and techniques to be leveraged in a future Internet. An overview of a scalable and adaptive streaming architecture is presented. Open problems in the distribution and caching process are identified. Throughout the article solutions to improve the performance of such a video distribution architecture are discussed, mainly from the perspective of a proxy cache. The investigations that led to these solutions are based on an empirical experiment with layer encoded video. The goal of this experiment was to understand the effect of varying the number of layers on the viewer's perceived quality. The results of this initial investigation can be seen as the foundation for subsequent studies on mechanisms that improve the transport and caching of layer-encoded video in a scalable adaptive streaming architecture.