M. Zubair Shafiq, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, has received a two-year $175,000 research grant from the Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) program at the National Science Foundation. The title of the project is "Towards Measurement and Optimization of Internet Video Quality of Experience."

Streaming video is by far the largest constituent of Internet traffic. Video currently makes up more than 66% of the global Internet traffic. The volume of video traffic is expected to quadruple between 2013 and 2018. The growth of Internet video is fueled by the popularity of free advertisement-based (such as YouTube) and paid subscription-based (such as Netflix) services. To sustain these revenue models, both industry and academic researchers are working on re-architecturing Internet video delivery infrastructure for improving users’ Quality of Experience (QoE).

The objectives of this project are two-fold. First, it aims to design accurate, scalable, and objective measures of video QoE. Such measures will be useful for QoE prediction and identifying factors that affect QoE. Second, it aims to develop a toolbox to measure, analyze, and optimize the impact of heterogeneous links and protocols on video QoE. The toolbox will be useful to identify QoE bottlenecks and shed light on ways to alleviate them. Moreover, it will reveal issues with the underlying network protocols and provide guidance on fixing them.

Successful completion of this project will help bridge the digital divide by improving video streaming experience for challenged consumers, particularly those in underserved and rural areas. The outcomes of this project will also guide future regulatory policies by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This project will bridge the areas of networking, signal processing, and human-computer interaction and foster interaction among them. The PI will work closely with stakeholders to facilitate the transfer of technology from the research environment to actual commercial deployments. The educational side of the project will integrate research findings in the undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University of Iowa.