Buffer size estimation for different start video broadcasting

Internet video broadcasting allows video playback simultaneously by many users in a network. Most broadcast approaches are limited to (i) one video broadcast server, and (ii) a fixed play time for all nodes. With only one server the more users join a broadcast program, the more load on the server. To solve this problem a mixture of characteristics from live-video streaming and video-on-demand is proposed. This paper also proposes a buffer management and simple mathematical model to estimate starting delay and buffer size. For this system, the proposed model is based on an application layer MESH network, which allows any user to join the network at any point of time and to view any part of the video streaming. The proposed model is simulated and verified by NS-2. The results show that (i) a starting delay can be bounded, (ii) a video server load is reduced drastically, (iii) users with different join time are able to view the first video frame and (iv) a proper buffer size will smooth video quality.