HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) is the predominant technique to deliver video contents across the Internet with the increasing demand of its applications. With the evolution of videos to deliver more immersive experiences, such as their evolution in resolution and framerate, highly efficient video compression schemes are required to ease the burden on the delivery process. While AVC/H.264 still represents the most adopted codec, we are experiencing an increase in the usage of new generation codecs (HEVC/H.265, VP9, AV1, VVC/H.266, etc.). Compared to AVC/H.264, these codecs can either achieve the same quality besides a bitrate reduction or improve the quality while targeting the same bitrate. In this paper, we propose a Mixed-Binary Linear Programming (MBLP) model called Multi-Codec Optimization Model at the edge for Live streaming (MCOM-Live) to jointly optimize (i) the overall streaming costs, and (ii) the visual quality of the content played out by the end-users by efficiently enabling multi-codec content delivery. Given a video content encoded with multiple codecs according to a fixed bitrate ladder, the model will choose among three available policies, i.e., fetch, transcode, or skip, the best option to handle the representations. We compare the proposed model with traditional approaches used in the industry. The experimental results show that our proposed method can reduce the additional latency by up to 23% and the streaming costs by up to 78%, besides improving the visual quality of the delivered segments by up to 0.5 dB, in terms of PSNR.

1. Farzad
Tashtarian
New generation video codecs (HEVC, VP9,
AV1, VVC) to soon replace AVC.
Each video streaming platform supports
only a specific set of video codecs.
Performance of video codecs depends on
the content.
ABSTRACT
With the evolution of videos in resolution and framerate, high efficient video compression schemes are required to deliver high quality with low data occupancy. With new generation codecs
being developed, enabling multi-codec video streaming efficiently becomes a necessary task. We therefore propose a Mixed-Binary Linear Programming (MBLP) model to jointly optimize the
overall streaming costs and the visual quality of the multi-codec delivered content.
INTRODUCTION
Video streaming expected to account
globally for 79% of Internet data in 2027 [1].
MCOM-Live
A Multi-Codec Optimization Model at the Edge
for Live Streaming
AUTHORS
Daniele
Lorenzi
AFFILIATIONS
Christian Doppler Laboratory
ATHENA
Alpen-Adria-Universitat
Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
MCOM-Live
Video content encoded with multiple codecs according to a fixed bitrate ladder.
PSNR for each segment and representation computed in real-time and available at the Edge server.
MCOM-Live chooses among three policies, i.e., fetch, transcode, or skip, how to handle video representations.
Initial results available for AVC and HEVC according to different combinations weight-scenario:
Each scenario denotes a different coverage for AVC and HEVC.
Streaming costs always lower than with the classic approach.
Reduction of additional latency by up to 23% and of streaming costs by up to 78%; visual quality improved by
up to 0.5 dB, in terms of PSNR.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The financial support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Af-
fairs, the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development, and the
Christian Doppler Research Association, is gratefully acknowledged. Christian Doppler
Laboratory ATHENA: https://athena.itec.aau.at/.
IMPLEMENTATION
REFERENCES
[1] Ericsson Mobility Report. [Online] Available: https://www.ericsson.com/4ad7e9/assets/local/reports-
papers/mobility-report/documents/2021/ericssonmobility-report-november-2021.pdf.
[2] Bienik, J., et. al.: "Performance of H.264, H.265, VP8 and VP9 Compression Standards for High
Resolutions". In 2016 19th International Conference on Network-Based Information Systems (NBiS),
Rate-Distortion (RD) curves for UHD video contents [2]
https://athena.itec.aau.at/2022/11/2891/
Python HTTP server and scripts to
manage the player environment.
Comparison between the traditional approach and ours
MPD file updated in real-time to
simulate live-streaming.
Hermann
Hellwagner
Christian
Timmerer
Hadi
Amirpour
Real network trace applied
through the tc tool.