Project Title:  Optimizing Bandwidth Reservation for Video on Demand Systems Using Dynamic Allocation of Resources

Advisor:  Yao Liang

Student:  Mukul Kishore

Video-on-Demand (VoD), a  popular paid service that allows subscribers to view movies of choice online,  has potential to be more viable for users through a new project.

“Optimizing Bandwidth Reservation for Video on Demand Systems Using Dynamic Allocation of Resources,” a current ARI project, strives to optimize the usage of a bandwidth reservation system called Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP),  to accommodate more users.

“RSVP provides a quantitative and largely compatible system to reserve bandwidth on the routers for the data transfer between the video server and client,” said Mukul Kishore, an ARI master’s student studying electrical and computer engineering, who is working on the project.

RSVP can be compared to making reservations at a restaurant, Kishore said.  If one makes reservations for every evening over a five-day span for a maximum of seven people, and on some days only four people come, one doesn’t need reservations for all seven people every night. Conventionally, RSVP usage is not as intuitive as dinner reservations.

Like a restaurant reservation, RSVP makes it possible to tailor the amount of bandwidth reserved for a given movie.  RSVP is updated every 30 seconds, thus adapting to the movie’s current streaming bandwidth, which in turn saves space for other users.

Conventionally, RSVP is used so the bandwidth reserved is close to the largest data rate for the entire video.  Usually the real data transfer rate required is much lower than the reserved rate.  This is done to ensure the reserved bandwidth can handle the load, and to help with unexpected transmission problems and network congestion.

However, a higher reservation does not necessarily imply better performance, Kishore said. Buffering mechanisms exist that smoothen the bursty flow of data on an Internet route.

Thus, a combination of efficient buffering techniques and the proposed dynamic reservation mechanism would make the VoD service more viable for users.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ari.vt.edu/posters/poster-Kishore.pdf

The figure above depicts a proposed database server. When functional, the server will contain and offer information about a specific video/movie, thus enabling subscribers to use new dynamic reservation technology.

The Alexandria Research Institute (ARI) showcases Virginia Tech's capabilities in the Northern Virginia area. It also presents a gateway to the main campus in Blacksburg.

ARI complements the teaching campus in Falls Church by providing a student research base for MS thesis and PhD dissertation work, thus attracting research-oriented students.

It builds multi-disciplinary teams (internal and external) for research and cross-cutting initiatives. It also hosts seminars and lectures by government program managers, industry researchers, overseas visitors and Virginia Tech faculty.

ARI is currently comprised of four departments including: Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining & Minerals Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering.

The current centers located at ARI are: Center for Energy and the Global Environment (CEAGE) and World Institute of Disaster Risk Management (DRM).

For more information, please visit: http://www.ari.vt.edu/intro.pps

Copyright ARI 2003