Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Proxy-assisted periodic broadcast for video streaming with multiple servers

  • Published:
Multimedia Tools and Applications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Large scale video streaming over the Internet requires a large amount of resources such as server I/O bandwidth and network bandwidth. A number of video delivery techniques can be used to lower these requirements. Periodic broadcast by a central server combined with proxy caching offers a significant reduction of the aggregate network and server I/O bandwidth usage. However, the resources available to a single server are still limited. In this paper we propose a system with multiple geographically distributed servers. The problem of multiple servers for periodic broadcast is quite different from the problem of object location for multiple web servers. Multiple servers offer increased amount of resources and service availability and may potentially allow a further reduction of network bandwidth usage. On the other hand, the benefit of periodic broadcast mostly comes from high demand videos. With multiple servers holding a video, the demand of the video at each server is reduced. Therefore, it is a challenge to use multiple servers efficiently. We first analyze the dependence of the resource requirements on the number and locations of the servers. Based on the character of the function describing such a dependence, we formulate and solve the problem of video location and delivery, in a way that minimizes resource usage. We explore a trade-off between network and I/O bandwidth requirements. We evaluate our proposed solutions through a number of tests.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Acharya S, Smith B, Parnes P (2000) Characterizing user access to videos on the world wide web. In: Proceedings of multimedia conferencing and networking

  2. Aggarwal C, Wolf JL, Yu PS (1996) A permutation-based pyramid broadcasting scheme for video-on-demand systems. In: Proceedings of IEEE conference on multimedia systems

  3. Aggarwal C, Wolf JL, Yu PS (1996) On optimal batching policies for video-on-demand storage servers. In: Proceedings of IEEE conference on multimedia systems, pp 253–258

  4. Baentsch M, Baum L, Molter G, Rothkugel S, Sturm P (1997) Enhancing the web’s infrastructure: from caching to replication. IEEE Internet Computing 1(2):18–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Barnett S, Anido G (1996) A cost comparison of distributed and centralized approaches to video-on-demand. IEEE J Sel Areas Commun 14(6):1173–1183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Daskin M (2000) A new approach to solving the vertex p-center problem to optimality: algorithm and computational results. Communications of the Operations Research Society of Japan 45(9):428–436

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gao L, Towsley DF (1999) Supplying instantaneous video-ondemand services using controlled multicast. In: Proceedings of IEEE international conference on multimedia computing and systems, vol 2, pp 117–121

  8. Gao L, Zhang Z-L, Towsley DF (1999) Catching and selective catching: efficient latency reduction techniques for delivering continuous multimedia streams. In: Proceedings of ACM multimedia, vol 1, pp 203–206

  9. Garey MR, Johnson DS (1979) Computer and intractability. A guide to the theory of NP-completness. Freeman, San Francisco, CA

    Google Scholar 

  10. Guo Y, Sen S, Towsley D (2002) Prefix caching assisted periodic broadcast: framework and techinques to support streaming for popular videos. In: Proceedings of IEEE international conference on communications, vol 4, pp 2607–2612

  11. Hu A (2001) Video-on-demand broadcasting protocols: a comprehensive study. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol 1, pp 508–517, April

  12. Hua KA, Cai Y, Sheu S (1998) Patching : a multicast technique for true video-on-demand services. In: Proceedings of ACM multimedia, pp 191–200

  13. Hua KA, Sheu S (1997) Skyscraper broadcasting: a new broadcasting scheme for metropolitan video-on-demand systems. In: Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM, pp 89–100

  14. Kangasharju J, Roberts J, Ross K (2001) Object replication strategies in content distribution networks. In: Proceedings of web caching and content distribution workshop

  15. Kusmierek E, Dong Y, Du DH (2006) Loopback: exploiting collaborative caches for large-scale streaming. IEEE transactions on multimedia, special issue in distributed media technologies, April

  16. Kusmierek E, Du DHC (2003) Proxy-assisted periodic broadcast with multiple servers. Technical Report 003-35, University of Minnesota

  17. Kusmierek E, Du DHC, Dong Y (2004) Proxy-assisted periodic broadcast architecture for large-scale video streaming. Journal of Internet Technology Special Issue on Real time media delivery over the Internet, October

  18. Kusmierek E, Lu Y, Du DH (2006) Periodic broadcast with dynamic server selection. Multimedia Tools and Applications

  19. Luling R (1999) Static and dynamic mapping of media assets on a network of distributed multimedia information systems. In: Proceedings of the 19th conference on distributed computing systems, pp 253–260

  20. Ma W, Du DHC (2002) Reducing bandwidth requirement for delivering video over wide area networks with proxy server. IEEE Trans Multimedia 4(4):539–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ma W, Du DHC (2004) Design a progressive video caching policy for video proxy servers. IEEE Trans Multimedia 6(4):599–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Qiu L, Padmanabhan VN, Voelker GM (2001) On the placement of web server replicas. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol 3, pp 1587–1596, April

  23. Ramesh S, Rhee I, Guo K (2001) Multicast with cache (Mcache): an adaptive zero delay video-on-demand service. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol 1, pp 85–94

  24. Sen S, Rexford J, Towsley DF (1999) Proxy prefix caching for multimedia streams. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol 3, pp 1310–1319

  25. Shahbi C, Banaei-Kashani F (2002) Decentralized resource management for a distributed continuous media server. IEEE Trans Parallel Distrib Syst 13(11):1183–1200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Wang B, Sen S, Adler M, Towsley D (2002) Optimal proxy cache allocation for efficient streaming media distribution. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol 3, pp 1726–1735

  27. Zhang Z-L, Wang Y, Du DHC, Shu D (2000) Video staging: a proxy-server-based approach to end-to-end video delivery over wide-area networks. IEEE/ACM Trans Netw 8(4):429–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Poznan, Poland

    Ewa Kusmierek

  2. Digital Technology Center and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Ewa Kusmierek & David H. C. Du

Authors
  1. Ewa Kusmierek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David H. C. Du
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ewa Kusmierek.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kusmierek, E., Du, D.H.C. Proxy-assisted periodic broadcast for video streaming with multiple servers. Multimed Tools Appl 36, 243–266 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-007-0135-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-007-0135-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation