Assessment of the effects of 5G MEC cache on DASH adaptation algorithms

Nowadays, video streaming services are the major sources of Internet traffic, and their usage is constantly growing. To cope with this increasing video traffic demand, 5G comes with a new Radio Access Network (RAN), having increased network data rates, and the Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) architecture, enabling the deployment of services closer to the end devices. 5G RAN and MEC open to new opportunities to enforce and boost the video content delivery, as the content can be cached locally at the MEC host and served with improved RAN connectivity. However, the presence of a cache located at MEC may affect player adaptation algorithm when employing Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming technologies, such as Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). The cache influences the network measurements performed by the DASH player, which are later used, among other factors, by its adaptation algorithm to select the video representation bitrate. This paper investigates the interactions between MEC cache and DASH adaptation algorithms in a real testbed, including 5G RAN and MEC platform. The effects on different adaptation algorithms are analyzed while caching the DASH video content at the MEC.