Video Speed Controller Service using NS-3

Introduction

This project was conducted for the network project team project for the first semester of 2022 at Sungkyunkwan University. Based on the ns-3 and network models learned in class, a "speed controlled streaming service" was implemented. Team member is Kang Seung Mok, Yoon So Hee, Lee In Su, Lee Hyun Jeong, Cha Jeong Min and Choi Jae Ik. We divided it into a development team and a simulation team.

Team Development : Kang Seung Mok, Yoon So Hee, Lee Hyun Jeong, Choi Jae Ik
Team Simulation : Lee In Su, Cha Jeong Min

Model

Streaming Server

Interpreting data read from client and decide which order and how many packets to send

Register new client for first request from client
If the client receives the image to the end
- Stop transmitting
If the client doesn’t receive the image to the end
- Transmit frames in smaller packets
- Send with the number of packets in the frame

Streaming Client

Request to the server with data
- the quality of the video want to receive (resolution)
- how many frames want to send from the server (lastRecvFrame)
- how many frames consume per second (speedxframeRate)
Receives frame fragments through the packet and adjusts the frame
- Modifying Information of frames that received stably
- Increase the buffer size of the frame
Consume the frames that have been received and organized, and request video to the server
- rebufferCounter initialization or increment
- Request next packet to server

Installation

Prerequisites

ns-3 (version 3.30), Python (python 2.7+ or python 3.5+), C++ compiler (clang++ or g++), Gnuplot

How to install

Download and build ns-3 following the official document here.
Copy the files exactly into the folders of the ns-3. (Be aware of the wscript in src->applications, otherwise the video streaming application will not be installed!)
Run ./waf or ./waf build to build the new application.
Run ./waf --run videoStreamer 2> stream.dat for the testing program and make output data file(you can change CASE in videoStreamTest.cc for different network environments).

How to change the case

During speed control, buffering occurs when the speed increases too much, so it is implemented to automatically improve resolution. The following two variable values can be adjusted to execute them at the desired speed and resolution. The supported resolution is classified into six levels.

m_videoSpeed : Variable that determines the speed level
m_videoLevel : Variable that determines the resolution level

How to make graph

Type the following commands

awk '$1=="0" {print $2 "\t" $3}' stream.dat > buffer.dat

awk '$1=="1" {print $2 "\t" $3}' stream.dat > playtime.dat

awk '$1=="2" {print $2 "\t" $3}' stream.dat > videolevel.dat

gnuplot

set term png

set output "stream.png"

set y2tics

set tics nomirror

set y2range [0:5]

plot "buffer.dat" using 1:2 title "BufferCount" with linespoints, "playtime.dat" using 1:2 title "PlayTime" with linespoints, "videolevel.dat" using 1:2 axes x1y2 title "ResolutionLevel" with linespoints

Quit gnuplot and check stream.png file.

Detailed explanation

This video streaming program start with high video resolution. It automatically modify the video quality according to the current buffering. If you want to get more detailed information, check the Results section right down below.

Issue

During speed control, buffering occurs when the speed increases too much, so it is implemented to automatically improve resolution.

Results