MP DASH: Adaptive Video Streaming Over Preference Aware Multipath
Compared with using only a single wireless path such as WiFi, leveraging multipath (e.g. WiFi and cellular) can dramatically improve users' quality of experience (QoE) for mobile video streaming. However, Multipath TCP (MPTCP) the de facto multipath solution, lacks the support to prioritize one path over another. When applied to video streaming, it may cause undesired network usage such as substantial over utilization of the metered cellular link. In this paper, we propose MP DASH, a multipath framework for video streaming with the awareness of network interface preferences from users. The basic idea behind MP DASH is to strategically schedule video chunks' delivery and thus satisfy user preferences. MP DASH can work with a wide range of off the shelf video rate adaptation algorithms with very small changes. Our extensive field studies at 33 locations in three U.S. states suggest that MP DASH is very effective: it can reduce cellular usage by up to 99% and radio energy consumption by up to 85% with negligible degradation of QoE, compared with off the shelf MPTCP.
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