A hybrid VBR/ABR service for scalable MPEG2 video networking: a simulation-based analysis

The available bit rate (ABR) will be one of the primary available ATM service for carrying data. Since it is based on the use of excess bandwidth in the network, it is expected to have a lower usage cost. Although, it is intended for non-real time applications, the inclusion of a minimum cell rate (MCR) makes it an attractive and economical candidate for the transmission of delay tolerant video applications. Therefore, we evaluate the effectiveness of a hybrid ATM service, composed of a dual VBR/ABR connection, for the transport of a 2-layer MPEG2 encoded application. We compare the ABR binary feedback and explicit rate mechanisms in the transmission of an enhancement video sublayer for various data partitioning configurations. To carry out the comparison, we consider the variations of the switches buffer occupancy, the end-to-end cell transfer delay (CTD), and the 2-point cell delay variation (CDV). We show that for one-way video applications, the mean end-to-end delay is below the recommended 1 second but at the cost of a large buffer at the destination due to excessive jitter.