Bit-Rate Allocation for Multiple Video Streams Using a Pricing-Based Mechanism

We consider the problem of bit-rate allocation for multiple video users sharing a common transmission channel. Previously, overall quality of multiple users was improved by exploiting relative video complexity. Users with high-complexity video benefit at the expense of video quality reduction for other users with simpler videos. The quality of all users can be improved by collectively allocating the bit rate in a centralized fashion which requires sharing video information with a central controller. In this paper, we present an informationally decentralized bit-rate allocation for multiple users where a user only needs to inform his demand to an allocator. Each user separately calculates his bit-rate demand based on his video complexity and bit-rate price, where the bit-rate price is announced by the allocator. The allocator adjusts the bit-rate price for the next period based on the bit rate demanded by the users and the total available bit-rate supply. Simulation results show that all users improve their quality by the pricing-based decentralized bit-rate allocation method compared with their allocation when acting individually. The results of our proposed method are comparable to the centralized bit-rate allocation.