SRC: stable rate control for streaming media

Abstract

Rate control, in conjunction with congestion control, is important and necessary to maintain both the stability of the overall network and high quality of individual data transfer flows. We study stable rate control algorithms for streaming data, based on control theory. We introduce various control rules to maintain both sending rate and receiver buffer stability. We also propose an adaptive two-state control mechanism to ensure the rate control algorithms are compatible with TCP traffics. Extensive experimental results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the rate control algorithms.