Performance study for streaming layered encoded videos in broadcast environment

Streaming layered video is one of the possible solutions in providing large-scale video-on-demand (VoD) services in a heterogeneous network environment. In this paper, we analyze the performance of a hierarchical VoD system using layered videos in broadcast environment, in which we not only store some of the popular videos in the proxy server but also broadcast some of the video layers to the customers so as to minimize the blocking probability of the system. By deriving a performance model, we analyze the impacts of different parameters such as the proxy size, the number of broadcasting channels for each layer and the bandwidth reserved for broadcasting on the system performance. From the results, it can be seen that the system performance in terms of blocking probability can be greatly enhanced when using video broadcasting protocols in a hierarchical VoD system.