The consumer demand for retrieving and delivering visual content through consumer electronic devices has increased rapidly in recent years. The quality of video in packet networks is susceptible to certain traffic characteristics: average bandwidth availability, loss, delay and delay variation (jitter). This paper presents a scheduling algorithm that modifies the stream of scalable video to combat jitter. The algorithm provides unequal look-ahead by safeguarding the base layer (without the need for overhead) of the scalable video. The results of the experiments show that our scheduling algorithm reduces the number of frames with a violated deadline and significantly improves the continuity of the video stream without compromising the average Y Peek Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR).

Retrieving and delivering visual content through multimedia devices has increased rapidly in recent years. The quality of video in packet networks is susceptible to certain traffic characteristics: average bandwidth availability, loss, delay and delay variation (jitter). This paper presents a scheduling algorithm that modifies the stream of the Scalable Video Coder (SVC)- an extension of the H.264/AVC. To combat jitter, the algorithm provides unequal look-ahead by safeguarding the base layer (without the need for overhead) of the scalable video. The results of the experiment show that our scheduling algorithm reduces the number of frames with a violated deadline and significantly improves the continuity of video stream without compromising the average Y PSNR.

Video streaming in a best effort network, where bandwidth availability fluctuates over time, is one of the most challenging in the multimedia research field. Bandwidth fluctuation leads to a variation in the delay of the video flow and therefore degradation of the quality of experience (QOE). To tolerate variations in instantaneous bandwidth, the scalable video codec (SVC) an extension of the H.264/AVC was designed. This paper presents the weighted multi-playback buffer management system for scalable video streaming in a congested network. The approach intrinsically provides weighted protection to the more important video layers within a video stream. We compare the performance of our weighted scheme with a multi-playback buffer which gives equal protection to every video layer. The simulation results show that weighted multi-playback buffer management can improve the average Y-PSNR and the continuity of the SVC video stream.