Study of statistical characteristics and queueing performance of MPEG1 and MPEG2 video sources

We present a statistical analysis of experimental MPEG video bit streams. Numerical results show that the impact of correlations and the particular structure of MPEG sequences (the GOP) is very significant. Most commonly used stochastic processes, based on only one picture type, with "simple" bit rate distribution, and/or whose autocorrelation function is a sum of exponential functions do not seem adequate to analyze MPEG video. We propose a simple approach for the performance evaluation of a queueing system loaded with such bit streams. Our model considers the particular structure of MPEG streams and gives extremely accurate results in a well-defined set of the queueing system parameters. The proposed model is validated with simulation results produced by using experimental video sequences; the sequences analysed are long enough to allow a significant statistical analysis. A performance evaluation study is also presented.