Power-Aware Multimedia Streaming in Heterogeneous Multi-User Environments∗

Streaming multimedia content to heterogeneous handheld devices is a significant research challenge, due to the diverse computation capabilities and battery lifetimes of these devices. A unified framework that integrates low level architectural optimizations (CPU, memory), OS power-saving mechanisms (Dynamic Voltage Scaling) and adaptive middleware techniques (admission control, transcoding, network traffic regulation) can provide significant improvements in both the system performance and user experience. In this paper, we present such an integrated framework and investigate the trade-offs involved in serving distributed clients simultaneously, while maintaining acceptable QoS levels for each client. We show that the power savings attained at both CPU/memory and network levels can be aggregated for increased overall performance. Based on this, we demonstrate how an integrated framework, that supports tight coupling of inter-level parameters can enhance user experience on handheld devices.