This page documents the development of a discrete event simulator for P2P video streaming applications. This simulator captures important features of data-driven video streaming systems. In particular, it is designed to evaluate: (i) the performance of various segment scheduling algorithms; (ii) the potential of network coding in multi-layer P2P video streaming systems.
Class Diagrams
- use long for time/offset in msec, which has a rollover time 24.85 days
class Layer { // video layer, we divide each layer into fixed size blocks, we keep track of // block size and no blocks here int layer; // layer number it belongs to, set to zero for nonscalable frame int blockSize; // blocks are fixed size, in bytes int noBlocks; // how many block here int dataSize; // aggregate size of all blocks } class Frame { // video frame, read from trace file int no; // serial number long deadlineOffset; // deadline offset compared to the start of the video, in msec int totalSize; // total frame size in bytes, including all layers Hashtable<Integer, Layer> layers; // reference to layers of this frame, key is the layer id } class Segment { // packetized frames int no; // serial number Vector<Frame> frames; // reference to included frame int totalSize; // aggregate size in bytes } class Video { // a media file, shared by a group of peers String filename; // video trace file path and name Hashtable<int, Frame> frameTrace; // frames read from the trace file Hashtable<int, Segment> segmentTrace; // segments generated by the prepareSegments(...) void prepareSegments(int noFrame); // packetize frames into segment, // noFrame indicates how many frames should we put in one segment; // we might implement other packtization schemes later. } class Neighbor { // keep track of what my neighbor has done Peer peer; // peer instance, for accessing availability info int estimateRate; // estimated rate (maybe historical) } class Peer { // represent a running peer int ingressBW; // incoming bandwidth in bps int egressBW; // outgoing bandwidth in bps BitSet avail; // availability bufmap Vector<Neighbor> neighbors; // peers that we may send requests to BufferedMatrix matrix; // matrix of coefficients and encoded values up to now NoEncodedBlocks noCodedBl; // keep track of No. of encoded blocks in each segment } class Group { // peers that have downloaded or want to download a Video Video video; // media shared among peers Vector<Peer> peers; // peers in this group void join(Peer peer); // adding a new peer into this group void leave(Peer peer); // removing a peer from this group } class Connection { // end to end network link between two peers Peer peer1; // one end Peer peer2; // the other long delay; // transmission delay in msec int e2eBW; // end-to-end bandwidth in bps } class BufferMap { // segment availability Vector<BitSet> segAvail; // segment availability for each layer of stream } class AdvertisedBuffermap { // show whether this segment is capable of serving other peers(applicable in NC) Vector<BitSet> servCapibility; // Serving capability of each segment } class BufferedMatrix{ // save coefficients and their corresponding encoded blocks up to now Vector<Vector> coef; // coefficients of the corresponding encoded blocks Vector <int>encodedValue; //encoded blocks } class NoEncodedBlocks{ // keep track of No. of encoded blocks in each segment Vector<Vector<int>> noCodedBl; // growable 2 dimensional array corresponding to segments and layers // each element in this vector keep the No. of encoded blocks in the // corresponding segment } // XXX TODO XXX class SimException { } Interface EventHandler { void handle() throws SimException; // callback function } class Event { long time; // when this event happens Peer src; // which peer generates this event Peer dst; // whom is destinate of this event Vector<EventHandler> handlers; //process an event and update states accordingly int type; // enum, see below // 1. connect: peer 1 makes a connection to peer 2, and add each other into neighbors // 2. requestSent: a receiver sends a high-priority request message to a sender // 3. requestArrived: a request message gets to a sender // 4. dataSent: a sender sends a data segment // 5. dataArrived: a data segment arrives to a receiver void addHandler(Interface EventHandler); // add an additional event handler void rmvHandler(Interface EventHandler); // remove an additional event handler } class EventQueue { SortedMap<Long, Event> queue; // events sorted on its time void dispatch(Event event); // sequentially invoke even handlers } class Simulator { long simTime; // elapsed simulation time in msec EventQueue events; // pending events that will be processed void dispatchEvent(); // forever loop to process the next event } Some comments: 1. At the beginning, we should have a peer publish a video (or a trace file). 2. The join() and leave() methods in the Group class may be moved to the Peer class and each peer should has a bitmap field. 3. We may add a Tracker class: Class Tracker { URL url; //peers use this url to find the tracker Vector<Peer> peers; //maintain a peer list to be quired by peers Vector<InetAddress> SelectPeers(); //when a peer joins a group at the first time, it quires other peers from the //tracker, then the tracker invokes SelectPeers() and returns //a list of neighbors to that peer void recordPeer(); //record information of a peer when it first connects the tracker or update it when some old //information is already stored //the information exchanged between a tracker and a peer may be <peerID, videoName> // or <peerID, videoName, ip_Address, port> if we want to do simulation on different machines } 4. If we really want to send video files between peers, we may need a Storage class to operate with files 5. We may design a superclass of all peers, trackers, and neighbors, as a typical networking server to deal with network connections 6. In case of Network Coding when a peer joins a group it will receive segments that are 'n' seconds after the current playback point. ('n' is a tunable parameter)