Set-top boxes providing Adaptive Streaming services for multiple mobile devices

As videos are more and more frequently played on mobile devices, a new-generation digital set-top box (STB) should provide TV users the streaming services additional to the conventional broadcast channel services. The inclusion of streaming services impose two imperative challenges for STB systems. First, the bandwidth should be efficiently distributed to multiple mobile users. Second, the system should provide protection for the copyrighted video. This paper proposes a safe adaptive video streaming system for a digital STB connected to multiple mobile devices. Videos are transmitted using the MPEG-DASH protocol, where a new bitrate adaptation algorithm is proposed. Based on the duration of stored video segments in the mobile device's buffer, required highest quality level for each mobile device, and estimated bandwidth variation, the proposed bitrate adaptation method provides each user fair and smooth video services. Compared with the conventional MPEG-DASH quality-adaptation algorithm, the proposed method reduces the quality-level transition and simultaneously increases the average bitrate and PSNR.