Enhancing Multimedia Streaming with Weighted Multiple Transmission Paths in Software Defined Networks

Abstract

With continuing advances in network and video and audio techniques, and the proliferation of mobile applications, the demand for multimedia streaming has grown exponentially in recent years. This study therefore proposes a multipath transmission scheme, designated as Weighted Stochastic Multipath (WSMP) scheme, for enhancing the efficiency of multimedia streaming transmissions by utilizing the data flow control ability in Software Defined Networks (SDNs). The proposed method searches for multiple transmission paths meeting the imposed QoS constraints, and then uses the stochastic switching mechanism based on the OpenFlow protocol in SDNs to transmit the data packets of single data flows through the multiple paths. In addition, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to set the transmission weights of the different paths in such a way as to optimize the transmission performance. Thus, the proposed multipath transmission scheme not only can avoid single path interruptions but also can split a single traffic flow among multiple paths. In comparison with the traditional single path transmission scheme and the well-known MPTCP scheme, the experimental simulation results show that, when the QoS parameter values of the multiple transmission paths are diverse, WSMP attains a higher throughput for data transmission and better PSNR values for video streaming, and thus yields a significant improvement in the efficiency of multimedia streaming transmissions.