Multi-Path Transmission Protocol for Video Streaming Over Vehicular Fog Computing Environments

Delivering real-time multimedia content for safety applications over vehicular networks presents significant challenges due to rapidly changing network topology, high node mobility, and fluctuating traffic demands, compounded by substantial data volumes and network resource limitations. This paper proposes the Multi-Path Transmission Protocol for Video Streaming (MPTP-VS) to address these issues by optimizing video transmission in road incident scenarios. Utilizing a Fog Computing architecture, the protocol enhances video delivery efficiency while maintaining high Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) through effective management of network resources such as bandwidth, jitter, and latency. Leveraging Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), MPTP-VS establishes an adaptive multi-path routing strategy that dynamically discovers network topology and promptly transmits data, ensuring seamless video streaming without prior knowledge of the network topology. Experimental results within an OMNET++ simulation environment demonstrate that MPTP-VS reduces latency by up to 83%, increases throughput by up to 43%, and achieves a 75% improvement in path discovery time compared to Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Dynamic MANET On-demand (DYMO) protocols. Additionally, MPTP-VS achieves a 35% higher Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) compared to current Content Delivery Network (CDN) systems employing Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABS). These findings highlight the significant enhancement in video streaming performance and reliability in vehicular environments using the proposed protocol.