An effective mesh-pull-based P2P video streaming system using Fountain codes with variable symbol sizes

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an effective mesh-pull-based video streaming system over P2P networks using Fountain codes with variable symbol sizes for video-on-demand services. The goal of the proposed system is to provide a stable video streaming service of high quality with minimum computational complexity and a short initial latency over P2P networks. Basically, Fountain codes are adopted in the proposed system to simplify the handshaking procedure, which causes a large initial latency, and to support a robust video streaming service despite packet losses. The proposed Fountain encoding mechanism works by using feedback information to reduce unnecessary encoded symbol generation. In addition, the Fountain code symbol size is continuously adjusted to minimize additional computational overhead required for Fountain encoding/decoding. The proposed system is fully implemented in software and examined over an Internet environment. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.