Enabling reliable and efficient wireless video uplink

In the third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) wireless ecosystem, user devices such as iPhones and Droids equipped with video capture capabilities are standard. Coupled with social media sites (Facebook, blogs), this results in the potential to cause huge growth in the capture and streaming of video from a mobile device. However, this potential is severely tempered due to the bandwidth limitation on the wireless uplink. To address this, we propose a framework/methodology that relies on Application Enablement (AE) to allow network service providers (NSPs) the ability to manage their networks for efficient use of limited bandwidth, while exposing the network intelligence to application developers through application programming interfaces (APIs). Developers using these framework APIs allow NSPs to manage the bit rates of cooperating applications to regulate usage, especially during congestion. Developers also leverage location, presence, quality of service (QoS), and service negotiation APIs for their specific application. This enables the creation of video applications that guarantee high quality of experience (QoE) for the end user, thus enabling unique, differentiated, and better performing applications as compared to what is possible with over-the-top (OTT) applications.