Abstract: In this paper, an interoperable streaming framework for the adaptation and streaming of scalable multimedia content is presented. The streaming framework’s architecture for Video on Demand (VoD) as well as multicast streaming is presented. The VoD test-bed allows each client to set up a separate streaming session and receive the bitstreams in a quality tailored to the clients requirements, while the multicast test-bed provides a layered scalable multicast to all clients and every client needs to decide which layers to subscribe to. After the description of the architectures, a comparison in terms of performance of the MPEG-21 DIA metadata-based adaptation approach to an SVC-specific adaptation approach is presented. Furthermore, optimizations for both adaptation approaches are presented and the performance improvements due to the optimizations are discussed.

Abstract: This paper presents an interoperable framework for the streaming of scalable multimedia content such as Scalable Video Coding (SVC). In particular, the framework’s architecture for both, Video on Demand (VoD) and multicast streaming, is presented. The architecture includes a detailed description of the adaptation engine – conforming to MPEG-21 Digital Item Adaptation – as well as the integration of the adaptation engine into VideoLAN’s VLC media player, which provides the streaming server and client for the framework. Following the description of the architecture, a comparison in terms of performance of the generic MPEG-21 DIA-based adaptation approach, which is utilized by the described demo, versus an SVC-specific adaptation approach is presented and possible further improvements for both approaches are investigated.

Abstract: In this paper we present an interoperable multimedia delivery framework for scalable video coding based on MPEG-21 Digital Item Adaptation (DIA). In can be used to transmit scalable video contents within heterogeneous usage environments where the properties of the usage environment (e.g., terminal/network capabilities) may change dynamically during the streaming session. The usage environment is signaled by interoperable description formats provided by the DIA standard. Additionally, the adaptation itself is done by exploiting the standard's generic adaptation approach, i.e., independent of the actual coding format. Thus, the overall framework is also applicable for other scalable coding formats.

Abstract: This paper provides a performance analysis of adaptation approaches designed for scalable media resources. In particular, we investigate the streaming of media resources compliant to the Scalable Video Coding (SVC) extensions of Advanced Video Coding (AVC)within heterogeneous environments, i.e., terminals and networks with different capabilities. Therefore, we have developed a test-bed in order to analyze two different approaches for the adaptation of scalable media resources, namely a generic approach that is applicable independently of the actual scalable coding format used and a specific approach especially built for SVC.The results show that if adaptation is required the generic approach clearly outperforms the approach specifically built for SVC