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.

Doctoral Student Positions in "Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services" (2nd cohort)

The Institute of Information Technology at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt invites applications for:

Doctoral Student Positions (100% employment; all genders welcome) 

within the Christian Doppler (CD) Pilot Laboratory ATHENA 

“Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services” 

at the Faculty of Technical Sciences. The monthly salary for these positions is according to the standard salaries of the Austrian collective agreement, min. € 3.058,60 pre-tax (14x yearly) (Uni-KV: B1, https://www.aau.at/en/uni-kv). The expected start date of employment is April 1st, 2023.

ATHENA (https://athena.itec.aau.at) stands for Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and Emerging Networked Multimedia Services and has been jointly proposed as a CD Laboratory (https://www.cdg.ac.at/) by the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC; https://itec.aau.at) at Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (AAU) and Bitmovin GmbH (https://bitmovin.com) to address current and future research and deployment challenges of HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) and emerging streaming methods.

AAU (ITEC) has been working on adaptive video streaming for more than a decade, has a proven record of successful research projects and publications in the field, and has been actively contributing to MPEG standardization for many years, including MPEG-DASH; Bitmovin is a video streaming software company founded by ITEC researchers in 2013 and has developed highly successful, global R&D and sales activities and a world-wide customer base since then.

The aim of ATHENA CD Lab is to research and develop novel paradigms, approaches, (prototype) tools and evaluation results for the areas (1) multimedia content provisioning (i.e., video coding), (2) content delivery (i.e., multimedia networking) and (3) content consumption (i.e., HAS player aspects) in the media delivery chain as well as for (4) end-to-end aspects, with a focus on, but not being limited to, HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS). The new approaches and insights enable Bitmovin to build innovative applications and services to account for the steadily increasing and changing multimedia traffic on the Internet. In addition, according to the CD Lab model of “application-oriented basic research,” the goal is to publish the results in international, high-quality professional journals and conference proceedings.

Your profile:

• Master or diploma degree of Technical Science in the field of Computer Science or Electrical Engineering, completed at a domestic or foreign university (with good final degrees);
• Interest and experience in one or more of the above-identified areas, namely (1) multimedia content provisioning (i.e., video coding with a special focus on using machine learning), (2) content delivery (i.e., multimedia networking) and (3) content consumption (i.e., HAS player aspects) in the media delivery chain as well as (4) end-to-end aspects (i.e., with a special focus video analytics and data science), with a focus on, but not being limited to, HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS);
• Excellent English skills, both in written and oral form. 

Desirable qualifications include:

• Excellent programming skills, especially in Python, C, C++, Java, or/and JavaScript;
• Relevant international and practical work experience;
• Social and communicative competencies and ability to work in a team;
• Experience with university teaching and research activities.

The working language and the research program are in English. There is no need to learn German for this position unless the applicant wants to participate in undergraduate teaching, which is optional.

Our offer:

The employment contract is concluded for the position of Project Assistant, and the monthly salary for these positions is according to the standard salaries of the Austrian collective agreement, min. € 3.058,60 pre-tax (14x yearly) (Uni-KV: B1, https://www.aau.at/en/uni-kv). 

The University of Klagenfurt also offers:

• Personal and professional advanced training courses, management and career coaching
• Numerous attractive additional benefits; see also https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/
• Diversity- and family-friendly university culture
• The opportunity to live and work in the attractive Alps-Adriatic region with a wide range of leisure activities in the spheres of culture, nature, and sports

The application:

If you are interested in this position, please apply in German or English by providing the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae 
• Copies of degree certificates and confirmations
• Proof of all completed higher education programs 
• Concept of a (potential) dissertation project (one-page maximum)

The University of Klagenfurt is aware of its social responsibility even during COVID-19. This is reflected by the high proportion of fully immunized persons among students and employees. For this reason, a continued willingness to be vaccinated in connection with COVID-19 is expected upon entering university employment.

The University of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and explicitly invites qualified women to apply for the position. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will receive preferential consideration. 

People with disabilities or chronic diseases, who fulfill the requirements, are particularly encouraged to apply. 

Travel and accommodation costs incurred during the application process will not be refunded.

Submit all relevant documents, including copies of all school certificates and performance records via here (note: we utilize Bitmovin’s recruitment infrastructure for processing applications, but the position will be at the University of Klagenfurt).

Application deadline (extended): October 1st, 2022. December 1st, 2022.

Contact information:
Dr. Christian Timmerer
Institute of Information Technology, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
Universitätsstraße 65 – 67, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria
Email: christian(dot)timmerer(at)aau(dot)at
URL: http://blog.timmerer.com, http://itec.aau.at/, https://athena.itec.aau.at/

Klagenfurt, situated at the beautiful Lake Wörthersee – one of the largest and warmest alpine lakes in Europe – has nearly 100.000 inhabitants. Being a small city, with a Renaissance-style city center reflecting 800 years of history and with Italian influence, Klagenfurt is a pleasant place to live and work. The university is located only about 1.5 kilometers east of Lake Wörthersee and about 3 kilometers west of the city enter.

Predoc Scientist: Distributed (Multimedia) Systems

*** updated ***

The University of Klagenfurt, with approximately 1,500 employees and over 12,000 students, is located in the Alps-Adriatic region and consistently achieves excellent rankings. The motto “per aspera ad astra” underscores our firm commitment to the pursuit of excellence in all activities in research, teaching, and university management. The principles of equality, diversity, health, sustainability and compatibility of work and family life serve as the foundation for our work at the university. 

The University of Klagenfurt is pleased to announce the following open position at the Department of Information Technology at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, employment to commence as soon as possible:

Predoc Scientist (all genders welcome)

Level of employment: 75 % (30 hours/week) 

Minimum salary: € 32,116.- per annum (gross); classification according to collective agreement: B1

Limited to: four years

Depending on the funds available the level of employment can be increased to 100 % during the length of employment. 

Application deadline: 7 December 2022

Reference code: 215_2/22

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Contributions to research and teaching
• Independent research with the aim of completing a doctoral thesis
• Participation in organizational and administrative tasks
• Participation in public relations activities
• Assistance in the acquisition and running of third-party funded projects 

Prerequisites for the appointment:

• Completed Diploma or Master’s studies in the field of Computer Science at a domestic or foreign higher education institution
• Strong background in one or more of the following fields:
• Distributed Systems
• Distributed Multimedia-Systems
• Machine Learning (Neuronal Network, Deep Learning); preferable in the context of Distributed (Multimedia-) Systems
• Excellent programming skills
• Excellent knowledge of English (fluent spoken and written English)

Additional desired qualifications:

• Communication and presentation skills
• International and practical experience within their field of activity
• Teaching experience and didactic competence
• First relevant publications (disregarding Master’s/Diploma thesis)
• German language skills (spoken and written German)

Our offer:

The employment contract is concluded for the position as Predoc Scientist Assistant and stipulates a starting salary of € 2,294.- gross per month (14 times a year, level of employment 75 %), respectively € 3,058.60 gross per month (14 times a year, level of employment 100 %); previous experience deemed relevant to the job can be recognised in accordance with the collective agreement. 

The University of Klagenfurt also offers:

• Personal and professional advanced training courses, management and career coaching
• Numerous attractive additional benefits, see also https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/
• Diversity- and family-friendly university culture
• The opportunity to live and work in the attractive Alps-Adriatic region with a wide range of leisure activities in the spheres of culture, nature, and sports

The application:

If you are interested in this position, please apply in German or English by providing the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae 
• Copies of degree certificates and confirmations
• Proof of all completed higher education programmes 
• Concept of a (potential) dissertation project (one page maximum)

Candidates must furnish proof that they meet the required qualifications by 7 December 2022 at the latest.

This position serves the professional and scientific education of graduates of a Diploma or Master’s programme to complete a doctorate programme in Computer Science. Applications from persons with a relevant doctorate or PhD cannot be considered.

To apply, please select the position with the reference code 215_2/22 in the category “Scientific Staff” using the link “Apply for this position” in the job portal, specifically at https://jobs.aau.at/en/job/predoc-scientist-all-genders-welcome-2/.

For further information on this specific vacancy, please contact Univ.-Prof. DI Dr Radu Prodan (radu.prodan@aau.at) and/or Assoc.-Prof. DI Dr Christian Timmerer (christian.timmerer@aau.at). General information about the university as an employer can be found at https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/. At the University of Klagenfurt, recruitment and staff matters are accompanied not only by the authority responsible for the recruitment procedure but also by the Equal Opportunities Working Group and, if necessary, by the Representative for Disabled Persons. 

The University of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and explicitly invites qualified women to apply for the position. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will receive preferential consideration. 

People with disabilities or chronic diseases, who fulfil the requirements, are particularly encouraged to apply. 

Travel and accommodation costs incurred during the application process will not be refunded.

Translations into other languages serve informational purposes only. Solely the version advertised in the University Bulletin (Mitteilungsblatt) is legally binding.

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

For the first time, the DASH Industry Forum (DASH-IF) awarded the best PhD dissertation on algorithms and protocols for adaptive content delivery over the internet at ACM MMSys 2019. After a public call, the DASH-IF received a good number of nominations from all around the world to pick one winner. Due to the high number and quality of nominations (and since it's the first time), the DASH-IF decided to award also the second and third best dissertation; increasing its financial prize as follows: first place – $750; second place – $500; and third place – $250. The winners are chosen by a DASH Industry Forum appointed committee and results are final.

And the winner is...

First place

Dr. Abdelhak Bentaleb (National University of Singapore)
for the dissertation

Enabling Optimizations of Video Delivery in HTTP Adaptive Streaming

(From left to right): R. Zimmermann (supervisor), A. Bentaleb, A. Giladi (DASH-IF); (c) Ishita Dasgupta

Second place

Dr. Jeroen van der Hooft (Ghent University), Low-Latency Delivery of Adaptive Video Streaming Services

(From left to right): Jeroen van der Hooft, A. Giladi (DASH-IF); (c) Ishita Dasgupt

Third place

Dr. Jonathan Kua (Swinburne University of Technology), Achieving High Performance Content Streaming with Adaptive Chunklets and Active Queue Management

The DASH-IF would like to congratulate all winners and hope seeing you next year at ACM MMSys 2020.

University Assistant (f/m)

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt announces the following job vacancy (in accordance with § 107 Abs. 1 Universitätsgesetz 2002):

University Assistant (f/m)

(fixed-term employment for the period of 4 years, 40 hours/week (Uni-KV: B1)

at the Faculty for Technical Sciences, Dept. of Information Technology. The monthly minimum salary for this position as stated in the collective agreement and according to the classification scheme is €2.731 (pre-tax, 14 x per year), but may be higher due to previous employment periods eligible for inclusion and other earnings and remunerations. 

[Important note: this English version is only informative and the official description of the job vacancy is available here, only in German though]

Your duties:

• Collaboration at the department within the research group “Multimedia Communication” in terms of research and teaching
• Independent scientific research with the goal to obtain the conferral of a doctorate
• Participation at the students’ counselling
• Collaboration at administrative tasks within the department and university committees
• Collaboration at public relations activities within the department and faculty

The research group “Multimedia Communication” conducts its research within the fields of communication, adaptation, quality of experience (QoE) and use of multimedia data, as well as in the area of future content-aware networks. The goal is to publish in international, high quality professional journals and conference proceedings and to cooperate with various commercial partners. With regard to teaching, additional fields such as computer organization, computer networks, operating systems and parallel systems are covered by our research group.

Your profile:

• Master or diploma degree of Technical Science in the field of Informatics, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Information and Communication Engineering or Telematics completed at a domestic or foreign university (with good final degrees)
• Excellent knowledge and experience in at least one of the following fields: computer organization, operating systems, computer networks, multimedia systems, distributed systems 

Desirable qualifications are:

• Fluency in German and English, both in written and oral form
• Excellent programming skills
• Relevant international and practical work experience
• Social and communicative competences and ability to work in a team
• Experience with university teaching and research activities 

All relevant documents for the application (including copies of all school certificates and performance records) have to be submitted via the online application form www.aau.at/obf of Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt no later than January 10, 2018, mentioning reference number 639/17.

The goal of the position is to equip graduates of a master or diploma programme with the necessary technical and scientific training to complete a doctorate or PhD program in Technical Sciences. Applications of scientists already holding such a degree can therefore not be taken into further consideration.

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions and therefore strongly invites qualified women to apply for this position. In case of equal qualifications, female applicants will receive preferential consideration.

Furthermore, persons with disabilities or chronic illnesses who meet the required qualification criteria are also explicitly invited to apply for the position. 

General information for applicants: www.aau.at/jobs/information

Additional information regarding the research group “Multimedia Communication” can be found online (www.aau.at/tewi/inf/itec/) or by phone +43-463-2700-3612 (Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Hermann Hellwagner).

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt cannot refund any travel or accommodation expenses that arise in connection with the admission procedure.

University Assistant (m/f)

The Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt announces the following job vacancy (in accordance with § 107 Abs. 1 Universitätsgesetz 2002):

University Assistant (m/f)

(fixed-term employment for the period of 4 years, 40 hours/week (Uni-KV: B1))

at the Faculty for Technical Sciences, Department for Computer Science. The monthly minimum salary for this position as stated in the collective agreement and according to the classification scheme is €2.731 (pre-tax, 14 x per year), but may be higher due to previous employment periods eligible for inclusion and other earnings and remunerations. Estimated commencement of duties will be the 1st of March, 2018.

Your duties:

• Independent scientific research with the goal to obtain the conferral of a doctorate
• Collaboration at the department within the research group “distributed systems” in terms of research and teaching
• Independent scientific research within the field of distributed systems
• Participation at the students’ counselling
• Collaboration at administrative tasks within the department and university committees
• Collaboration at public relations activities within the institute and faculty

The research group “Distributed Systems” does its research within the field of scientific high-performance computing, cloud computing and multimedia systems. The goal is to publish in international, high quality professional journals and conference transcripts and to cooperate with various commercial partners. With regard to teaching, additional fields such as computer networks, operation systems, distributed systems and compiler construction are covered by our research group.

Your profile:

• Master or diploma degree of Technical Science in the field of Computer Science, completed at a domestic or foreign university (with good final degrees)
• Excellent knowledge and experience in: high-performance computing, cloud-computing, virtualisation, big data, energy efficiency
• Fluency in English, both in written and oral form

All relevant documents for the application (including copies of all school certificates and performance records) have to be submitted via the online application form www.aau.at/obf of the University of Klagenfurt no later than the 8th of November, mentioning reference number 607/17.

Desirable qualifications are:

• Fluency in German, both in written and oral form
• Excellent programming skills, especially C++ and Java
• Experience in handling OpenStack
• Relevant international and practical work experience
• Social and communicative competences and ability to work in a team
• Experience with university teaching and research activities

The goal of the position is to equip graduates of a master or diploma programme with the necessary technical and scientific training to complete a doctorate or PhD. In Technical Sciences. Applications of scientists already holding such degree can therefore not be taken into further consideration.

The University of Klagenfurt lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions and therefore strongly invites qualified women to apply for this position. In case of equal qualifications, female applicants will receive preferential consideration.

Furthermore, persons with disabilities or chronic illnesses who meet the required qualification criteria are also explicitly invited to apply for the position.

General information for applicants: www.aau.at/jobs/information

Additional information regarding the research group “Distributed Multimedia Systems” can be found online (www.aau.at/tewi/inf/itec/) or by phone +43-463-2700-3611 (Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Radu Prodan).

The University of Klagenfurt cannot refund any travel or accommodation expenses that arises in connection with the admission procedure.

Open PhD and master thesis positions

I'm looking for two PhD and several master thesis students for an EC-funded research project* within the following areas:

• End-to-End multimedia architectures within content- and context-aware networks
  
• In-network adaptation of Scalable Video Coding (SVC), transcoding, and multicasting
  
• Quality of Service and Quality of Multimedia Experience

Requirements: Basic knowledge in the areas above, ability to work on your own, flexibility, and high motivation to work in a friendly atmosphere
Project duration: 3 years (PhD)
Start: PhD (approx. end of 2009/beginning of 2010), master thesis (early 2010)

For questions or in case you are interested, please contact me at christian(dot)timmerer(at)itec(dot)uni-klu(dot)ac(dot)at (please replace (at) by @ and (dot) by .). Also, please distribute this to people you think they might be interested - THANK YOU!

* the project is in challenge 1 (Pervasive and Trusted Network and Service Infrastructures Strategic) and objective ICT 2009.1.5 Networked media & 3D Internet