A performance study of adaptive video coding algorithms for high speed networks

Adaptive video coding algorithms are digital video compression algorithms that can adapt the encoding of a video stream dynamically based on the amount of bandwidth available on the network. While such algorithms are more complicated than traditional video coding algorithms, they are attractive because of their inherent robustness to changes in network load (i.e. network congestion). Adaptive video coding algorithms seem particularly suitable for high speed network environments, such as B-ISDN/ATM, that offer Available Bit Rate (ABR) services. The goal of this paper is to assess the role that adaptive video coding algorithms will play in future high speed networks. The paper presents a simple mathematical model and analysis of several hypothetical video coding algorithms for high speed networks, and a simulation study of one such adaptive video coding algorithm that we have implemented in a local area network environment. The results show that adaptive video coding algorithms are indeed robust across a wide range of network loads. More importantly, however, the results suggest that the domain of adaptive video coding algorithm is quite narrow: moderately to heavily loaded networks with speeds on the order of 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps. As a result, adaptive video coding algorithms will likely play only a limited role in future high speed networks.