Method and apparatus for managing over-the-top video rate

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a device including a processing system including a processor and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, including monitoring network traffic to determine a transmission control protocol traffic pattern, determining a target video rate from the transmission control protocol traffic pattern, and modifying an over-the-top video delivery service network according to the target video rate. Other embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:   determining a first target video rate from a traffic pattern, wherein the traffic pattern is determined based upon monitoring network traffic, wherein the network traffic includes a first video stream utilizing a first video transmission scheme, wherein the network traffic includes a second video stream utilizing a second, different, video transmission scheme, wherein the first video transmission scheme includes a first video chunk size, a first video coding, and a first number of flows, and wherein the second video transmission scheme includes a second video chunk size, a second video coding, and a second number of flows;   adjusting the first target video rate based upon predicted network traffic, wherein the adjusting results in a second target video rate;   transmitting a third video stream to meet the second target video rate when an end user device is capable of displaying video with the second target video rate; and   transmitting a fourth video stream to meet the first target video rate when the end user device is incapable of displaying video with the second target video rate.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second video chunk size is different from the first video chunk size. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second video coding is different from the first video coding. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second number of flows is different from the first number of flows. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the first target video rate comprises applying a water-filling algorithm to a plurality of values corresponding to a respective number of bytes monitored according to the traffic pattern. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the adjusting the first target video rate is based in part on a subscriber agreement. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 adjusting a network resource allocation based on the adjusting of the first target video rate.   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the network resource allocation is adjusted to facilitate a group of individual video streams to meet the second target video rate at each of a plurality of time slots. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the network traffic includes monitoring bytes in a time series. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the monitoring of the bytes is performed over a recurring period. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the first target video rate comprises determining an optimized video rate to provide a particular video playback quality for an over-the-top video delivery service network to individual subscribers. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the network traffic comprises applying a network probe to capture network packets. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the monitoring of the network traffic comprises performing an analysis on the network packets to determine a network throughput. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the network traffic comprises analyzing packet headers of network packets, and wherein the packet headers are analyzed without performing a payload analysis. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a processing system including a processor, a first target video rate based on network traffic, wherein the network traffic includes a first video stream utilizing a first video transmission scheme, wherein the network traffic includes a second video stream utilizing a second, different, video transmission scheme, wherein the first video transmission scheme includes a first video chunk size, a first video coding, and a first number of flows, wherein the second video transmission scheme includes a second, different, video chunk size, a second, different, video coding, and a second, different, number of flows;   adjusting, by the processing system, the first target video rate based upon predicted network traffic, wherein the adjusting results in a second target video rate;   transmitting, by the processing system, a third video stream to meet the second target video rate when an end user device is capable of displaying video with the second target video rate; and   transmitting, by the processing system, a fourth video stream to meet the first target video rate when the end user device is incapable of displaying video with the second target video rate.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the determining of the first target video rate is based on applying a water-filling algorithm to a plurality of values corresponding to a respective number of monitored bytes. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the adjusting the first target video rate is based in part on a subscriber agreement. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 monitoring, by the processing system, the network traffic by applying a network probe to capture network packets; and   performing, by the processing system, an analysis on the network packets to determine a network throughput.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 monitoring, by the processing system, the network traffic;   obtaining, by the processing system and based on the monitoring of the network traffic, packet headers; and   analyzing, by the processing system, the packet headers without performing a payload analysis.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 determining a first target video rate from a traffic pattern, wherein the traffic pattern is determined based upon network traffic, wherein the network traffic includes a first video stream utilizing a first video transmission scheme, wherein the network traffic includes a second video stream utilizing a second, different, video transmission scheme, wherein the first video transmission scheme includes a first video chunk size, a first video coding, and a first number of flows, and wherein the second video transmission scheme includes a second video chunk size, a second video coding, and a second number of flows;   adjusting the first target video rate based upon predicted network traffic, wherein the adjusting results in a second target video rate;   transmitting a third video stream to meet the second target video rate when an end user device is capable of displaying video with the second target video rate; and   transmitting a fourth video stream to meet the first target video rate when the end user device is incapable of displaying video with the second target video rate.