Monday, June 12, 2023

DASH-IF awarded Best PhD Dissertation on Algorithms and Protocols for Adaptive Content Delivery over the Internet

Vancouver, June 9, 2023


The DASH Industry Forum (DASH-IF) is set to honor the most outstanding PhD dissertation on Algorithms and Protocols for Adaptive Content Delivery over the Internet during the ACM Multimedia Systems 2023. The winner of the award will be selected by a committee composed of DASH-IF members. All dissertations that fall within the scope and have been successfully defended in 2021, 2022 or 2023 (before the May 1, 2023 submission deadline) are qualified for nomination. The recipient of the award will receive 750 USD.

And the winner is

Dr. Mehmet N. Akcay
for his dissertation on
Server and Client-side Algorithms for Enhancing Adaptive Streaming


Abstract: HTTP adaptive video streaming is a technique widely used on the internet today to stream live and on-demand content. Server and client-side algorithms play an important role in improving user experience in terms of metrics such as latency, rebufferings, and rendering quality. After explaining the commonly used metrics, the author analyzed four main aspects of video streaming (i) bandwidth prediction accuracy, (ii) utilization of playback speed, (iii) adaptive streaming for content-aware-encoded videos, and (iv) head motion awareness for 360-degree videos. 360-degree video streaming requires much higher bandwidth compared to conventional video streaming. The author demonstrates that most of the algorithmic improvements achieved for video streaming can also be applied to Viewport Dependent Streaming (VDS) for 360-degree videos. It is also important that in 360-degree video streaming, we have a Head Mounted Display (HMD) device that is capable of pointing the viewport orientation of the user. We also investigate and improve the rate-adaptation algorithms for 360-degree videos by developing several new algorithms using the HMD. The new algorithms proposed in this thesis are Low-on-Latency (LoL), Low- on-Latency+ (LoL+), Bang-on-Bandwidth (BoB), Size-aware Rate Adaptation (SARA), Content-aware Playback Speed Control (CAPSC), Head-motion-aware Viewport Margins (HMAVM). We evaluate the proposed new algorithms using the objective metrics discussed in detail and show significant contributions for these new algorithms including up to 91% decrease in rebuffering duration for on-demand streaming, a 61.9% decrease in rebuffering duration, and an 8.1% decrease in latency compared to L2A for low-latency live streaming, 81.3% bandwidth prediction accuracy for interactive streaming, lastly 20% improvement in viewport quality and 50% reduction in motion- to-high-quality delay for 360-degree video streaming.

The DASH-IF congratulates the winner and hopes to see you next year at ACM MMSys 2024.

No comments: