Effects of interaction between error control and media synchronization on application-level performances

We study the interaction between error control and media synchronization. We approach the problem by considering a virtual application data unit (ADU) network with error control within the network boundary and media synchronization outside the network boundary. We introduce the concept of cumulative inter-ADU jitter, which is the running total of the differences between inter-ADU spacings at the receiver and at the sender, to model the ADU departure process from the network observed at the entry of the playback buffer. We investigate how different error control schemes, network and source characteristics influence the process on one hand and how the process affects the choice of playback delay in order to minimize ADU losses on the other hand. Our numerical results, obtained through simulation, verify the analysis and reveals that jitter control within the network is not as important as controlling the bandwidth and the delay, especially in the presence of error control and variable bit rate source