Predictive rate control for realtime video streaming with network triggered handover

As the first step to developing a network controlled resource assignment architecture for mobile networks, we have evaluated the effectiveness of a predictive QoS control scheme for realtime video streaming on a mobile network that supports network-triggered handover. This scheme is based on network and application cooperation and enables video streaming applications on mobile devices and the correspondent hosts to control the data transmission rate before the handover of mobile devices according to the estimated value of the available bandwidth after handover. This scheme essentially has the ability to control the transmission rate not only of a device on handover but of other devices to offer fairness in using limited shared bandwidth. The simulation results reveal that the scheme could avoid picture frame losses and starvation of the playback buffer on mobile devices after handover.