Abstract:

In order to reduce channel change time of Internet protocol television (IPTV) in Internet protocol（IP） multicast environment, a novel scheme of IPTV rapid channel change in IP multicast environment is proposed. This scheme utilizes terminal's upload bandwidth to supply rapid media stream rate to other terminals, and fulfills playout buffer in channel change termianals for a short time period, so as to reduce the channel change time. According to theoretical analysis and simulation results, under a highly channel change rate, only no more than 20% additional bandwidth is needed to reduce the channel change time to 15%-45% of original multicast channel change time.

Key words: multicast, Internet protocol television, channel switching time, channel change time