Media strcaming over hest cffort packet networks such as thc lnternct is quite challenging because of the dynamic and unpredictablc available bandwidth, loss rate, and delay. Recently, streaming over multiple paths to provide path diversity has emerged a s an approach to help overcome these problems. This article provides a n overview of the benefits and use of path diversity for media streaming. T h e diffcrent approaches to mcdia coding and streaming over multiple paths a r e examined, togcther with architectures for achieving path diversity between single o r multiple senders and a single receiver. Important examples include using the distributed scrvers in a content delivery network to provide path diversity to a requesting client, using multiple 802.1 1 wireless access points to provide path diversity t o a mobile client, and using rclays to provide low-latency media communication. The design, analysis, and operation of media streaming systems that use path diversity are considered, with emphasis on the accurate pcrformance models needed to select thc best paths or hest servers.
Multi-path streaming and exploitation of path diversity has attracted much attention recently, and REF provides a broad overview of the general area.
Path diversity for enhanced media streaming
IEEE Communications Magazine
IEEE Communications Magazine
Computer Science