Optimising communications

• US 20100262709A1
• Filed: 02/19/2010
• Published: 10/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype Limited (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Heinla, Ahti, Hiie, Magnus, Keskküla, Silver
• Granted Patent: US 8,463,929 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/12 Shortest path evaluation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/121 by minimising delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/122 by minimising distances, e.g. by selecting a route with minimum of number of hops
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/125 based on throughput or bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/126 minimising geographical or physical path length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/16 Multipoint routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/70 Routing based on monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities

Abstract

A method, system and program for transmitting different quality versions of a stream to end-user nodes of a network. The method comprises: for each of a plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream to different consuming end-user nodes, evaluating a utility function for each of those consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on the version and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the respective version; for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determining an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and selecting a preferred combination of versions of the stream over said routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting selected versions of a stream to end-user nodes of a network, each version being a different quality version of the same content, the method comprising:

for each of a plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream to be transmitted over respective routes to consuming end-user nodes, evaluating a utility function for each of said consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on the version and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the respective version of the stream when transmitted via the respective route;

for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determining an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes;

selecting a preferred combination of versions of the stream over said routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations; and

transmitting the selected versions of the stream via the respective routes to the respective consuming end-user nodes for consumption of the content thereat.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the method comprises, for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determining an estimate of one or more transport properties of the version of the stream over each respective route to each of the respective consuming end-user nodes; and

for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, the utility function for each of the consuming end-user nodes defines the measure of end-user benefit as a function of said one or more transport properties.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said one or more transport properties comprise at least one of:

a packet-loss rate, a delay, a jitter, and an achievable bitrate.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the utility function is dependent on one or more properties of the version of the stream as transmitted from source.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said one or more properties of the version of the stream as transmitted comprise at least one of:

an encoded bitrate, distortion, codec, video frame rate, video resolution, and audio sampling rate.

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the utility function is dependent on the stream'"'"'s type.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the utility function is dependent on one or more properties relating to the consumption of the stream.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said one or more consumption-related properties comprise at least one of:

a video window size, a property of an audio output device, and a property of a video output device.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving information from each end-user node relating to the evaluation of its respective utility function, wherein the evaluation of the utility function comprises using said information in the evaluation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the receipt of said information comprises receiving one or more user-signalled parameters from each end-user node, the utility function for each of the end-user nodes being a function of the respective parameters.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the receipt of said information comprises receiving from each end-user node an indication of the form of its respective utility function, and said use of the information comprises evaluating a utility function of the indicated form.

12. The method of any preceding claim 1, wherein said routes include at least one route via a relaying end-user node.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein at least one of said one or more relaying end-user nodes is one of said consuming end-user nodes

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein at least one of said one or more relaying end-user nodes is not a consumer of the stream it relays.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of said overall utility value comprises taking one of the sum and the product of the evaluated utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection of said preferred combination is based on a comparison of the overall utility values of the different possible combinations.

17. The method of claim 1, comprising determining said plurality of possible combinations of versions from a greater number of combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, by first eliminating combinations ruled out by constraints on one or more of:

uplink bandwidth, downlink bandwidth, processing resources of one or more of the end-user nodes involved in one or more of the routes, and connectivity due to firewalls.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each version of the stream comprises an indication of minimum performance requirements for that version, and said elimination is performed by reference to the minimum performance requirements indicated in each version.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein each version of the stream comprises an indication of minimum performance requirements for the stream, and the utility function is dependent on the minimum performance requirements indicated in each version.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein each version of each stream comprises a stream ID identifying the content and a version ID identifying the version of that content.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said versions each comprise a different respective number of layers of a layered encoding scheme.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises:

for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream, evaluating the utility function for each of a plurality of possible combinations of routes to the plurality of consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on route;

for each of the plurality of possible combinations of routes with each possible combination of versions of the stream over those routes, determining an overall utility value based on the evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and

in addition to selecting the versions of the stream, selecting a preferred combination of routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations;

wherein said routing comprises routing the respective selected versions of the stream to the consuming end-user nodes via the selected routes.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said plurality of possible combinations of route include at least one possible combination routing via one or more relaying end-user nodes.

24. A client program product for transmitting selected versions of a stream to end-user nodes of a network, each version being a different quality version of the same content, the program comprising code which when executed on an end-user node of the network will operate in conjunction with like client programs executed on other end-user nodes of the network to:

for each of a plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream to be transmitted over respective routes to consuming end-user nodes, evaluate a utility function for each of said consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on the version and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the respective version of the stream when transmitted via the respective route;

for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determine an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes;

select a preferred combination of versions of the stream over said routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations; and

transmit the selected versions of the stream via the respective routes to the respective consuming end-user nodes for consumption of the content thereat.

25. A communication system for transmitting selected versions of a stream to end-user nodes of a network, each version being a different quality version of the same content, the communication system comprising an optimiser and a transceiver operatively coupled to the optimiser, wherein the optimiser is configured to:

for each of a plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream to be transmitted over respective routes to consuming end-user nodes, evaluate a utility function for each of said consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on the version and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the respective version of the stream when transmitted via the respective route;

for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determine an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and

select a preferred combination of versions of the stream over said routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations; and

the transceiver is configured to transmit the selected versions of the stream via the respective routes to the respective consuming end-user nodes for consumption of the content thereat.