Bandwidth Efficient Livestreaming in Mobile Wireless Networks: A Peer-to-Peer ACIDE Solution

In mobile wireless networks, livestreaming in high user density areas presents two typical challenges: the wireless bandwidth is depleted and the number of users is limited. In this study, a media distribution model utilizing peer to peer communications, Active Control in an Intelligent and Distributed Environment, is proposed for bandwidth efficient livestreaming. The basic idea is to group users with identical livestream interest in a cluster of n peers. Instead of sending n copies of a livestream package, only one copy is sent to the cluster. A package is divided into n blocks. Each user receives one block from the base station and the remaining n-1 blocks from the other peers. Two optimization problems are addressed. The first problem is minimizing the bandwidth needed to guarantee a continuous live media play on all peers. A solution is proposed to find the optimal block sizes such that the wireless bandwidth is minimized. The second problem is maximizing the number of peers admitted to a cluster, given a fixed wireless bandwidth. This problem is NP-complete and a greedy strategy is proposed to calculate a feasible solution for peer selection. The proposed model improves the bandwidth efficiency and allows more users to be served.