System and method for variable video degradation counter-measures

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for variable video degradation counter-measures. A system configured according to this disclosure transmits a video communication over a network, detects the video quality degradation of the video communication, selects an appropriate counter-measure based at least in part on the particular type of degradation encountered, and implements the appropriate counter-measure. If multiple transmission paths are available in the system, either completely or partially disjoint, the paths can be evaluated based on ability to deliver video traffic. Throughout the transmission the system continues measuring and monitoring the video quality in real-time. The system can also accurately respond to the type and degree of the degradation by matching the type and degree of degradation to a table containing corresponding counter-measures.

I claim: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 transmitting a video communication through a network; 
 detecting, via a processor, a video quality degradation of the video communication based on network packet-level measurements and baseline degradation values; 
 prioritizing a plurality of categories of quality degradations to yield a prioritization, wherein each category in the plurality of categories of quality degradation comprises one of jitter, duplication, block artifacts, snow, static, delay, or loss of audio; 
 identifying, from the plurality of categories of quality degradation, a category of video quality degradation that corresponds to the video quality degradation; 
 based on the prioritization, prioritizing a plurality of countermeasures corresponding to the plurality of video quality degradations to yield a table that matches the plurality of countermeasures specifying respective corrective video parameters with the plurality of categories of quality degradations; 
 selecting, from the table, a countermeasure to correct quality degradations of the category of video quality degradation; and 
 in response to the video quality degradation, implementing the countermeasure in real time. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the video quality degradation is further based on a quality of service being measured over a video communication path through the network. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the video quality degradation is determined from at least one of a bit error rate, a network packet loss, or a burst loss density. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 evaluating multiple communication paths through the network; and 
 transmitting the video communication over one or more of the multiple communication paths. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of countermeasures comprises at least one of a change in bit-rate or a modification to inter-frame compression encoding parameters. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the network packet level measurement is one of processed or unprocessed video quality measurements. 
     
     
       7. A system comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 transmitting a video communication through a network; 
 detecting a video quality degradation of the video communication based on network packet-level measurements and baseline degradation values; 
 prioritizing a plurality of categories of quality degradations to yield a prioritization, wherein each category in the plurality of categories of quality degradation comprises one of jitter, duplication, block artifacts, snow, static, delay, or loss of audio; 
 identifying, from the plurality of categories of quality degradation, a category of video quality degradation that corresponds to the video quality degradation; 
 based on the prioritization, prioritizing a plurality of countermeasures corresponding to the plurality of video quality degradations to yield a table that matches the plurality of countermeasures specifying respective corrective video parameters with the plurality of categories of quality degradations; 
 selecting, from the table, a countermeasure to correct quality degradations of the category of video quality degradation; and 
 in response to the video quality degradation, implementing the countermeasure in real time. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , the computer-readable storage medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
 based on at least one of video path measurements or desired video quality, establishing the baseline video quality values; and 
 creating the table. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 7 , wherein detecting the video quality degradation is further based on a quality of service being measured over a video communication path through the network. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of countermeasures comprises at least one of a change in bit-rate or a modification to inter-frame compression encoding parameters. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
 evaluating multiple communication paths through the network; and 
 transmitting the video communication over one or more of the multiple communication paths. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the network packet-level measurements comprise at least one of bit error rate, network packet loss, or burst loss density. 
     
     
       13. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 transmitting a video communication through a network; 
 detecting a video quality degradation of the video communication based on network packet-level measurements and baseline degradation values; 
 prioritizing a plurality of categories of quality degradations to yield a prioritization, wherein each category in the plurality of categories of quality degradation comprises one of jitter, duplication, block artifacts, snow, static, delay, or loss of audio; 
 identifying, from the plurality of categories of quality degradation, a category of video quality degradation that corresponds to the video quality degradation; 
 based on the prioritization, prioritizing a plurality of countermeasures corresponding to the plurality of video quality degradations to yield a table that matches the plurality of countermeasures specifying respective corrective video parameters with the plurality of categories of quality degradations; 
 selecting, from the table, a countermeasure to correct quality degradations of the category of video quality degradation; and 
 in response to the video quality degradation, implementing the countermeasure in real time. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable storage device of  claim 13 , wherein detecting the video quality degradation is further based on a quality of service being measured over a video communication path through the network. 
     
     
       15. The computer-readable storage device of  claim 13 , wherein each countermeasure within the plurality of countermeasures corresponds to a specific level of video quality degradation detected. 
     
     
       16. The computer-readable storage device of  claim 13 , wherein at least one countermeasure within the plurality of countermeasures measures modifies inter-frame compression. 
     
     
       17. The computer-readable storage device of  claim 13 , wherein the network packet-level measurements comprise at least one of bit error rate, network packet loss, or burst loss density. 
     
     
       18. The computer-readable storage device of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of countermeasures comprises at least one of a change in bit-rate or a modification to inter-frame compression encoding parameters.