Thanks to the massive developments in mobile communication technologies, we can enjoy video streaming services over mobile terminals. However, in the case of high-speed mobility, we still cannot obtain high-quality services, because of limited bandwidth and insufficient handover management.

This paper attempts to tackle these two obstacles to achieve high-quality streaming services for mobile users. The authors divide the data transmission from the media server to the mobile terminal into two parts: one is the data transmission from the media server to the base station; the other is the data transmission from the base station to the mobile node.

To perform efficient data transmission from the media server to the base station, the authors segment video streams into variable-sized parts, according to the user’s speed and traversal path, and the media server needs to transmit only some necessary segments to base stations that are concerned. As you can easily guess, since mobile terminals are handing over segments from one base station to another, one base station is not required to receive the entire stream. In this manner, the transmission costs between media servers and base stations are curtailed, the authors claim.

Also, to perform efficient data transmission from the base station to user terminals, the authors control the stream transmission rate based on the buffer status of the recipient (user terminal). The interesting point is that the authors take care of the decode buffer status of user terminals. The simple equations described in this paper restrict and control the buffer status of user terminals.

The authors mainly address the concept of the stream-controlling scheme instead of the details of it. Hence, you can envision the concept and exemplary architecture of the future streaming services by reading this paper. As the authors make clear, the proposed system requires cooperation among media servers, base stations, and user terminals. For those studying the architecture of future streaming service systems, this article may be worth reading.