Performance of DASH and WebRTC Video Services for Mobile Users

Abstract

With the confluence of the growing market for mobile Internet devices, and users' expectations of instant access to high-quality multimedia content, the delivery of video over wireless networks has become the challenge of the decade. Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) and WebRTC are new and evolving standards that have been developed specifically to meet this demand and enable a high-quality experience for mobile users of video on demand and real time communication services, respectively. However, there has been no systematic study of how these services are experienced by users in a realistic mobile setting. In this work, we describe measurements collected from DASH and WebRTC implementations while moving at walking speeds through an 802.16e WiMAX network. Using data from the application, network, and physical layers, in different wireless environments, we identify characteristics of the cellular data network that directly impact the quality of video service, and suggest areas for further improvement.