Scalable Video Streaming over the Internet

To my family iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Mostafa H. Ammar. During my doctoral studies at Georgia Institute of Technology, he has provided me with insightful vision, thoughtful guidance, and valuable comments. It has been a great pleasure to have him as an advisor. Without his guidance, this dissertation would not be successfully completed. Also I would like to express my gratitude to my co-advisor, Dr. Yucel Altunbasak for his invaluable comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Hilt in Lucent Bell Labs. They provided me with the opportunities to explore the multi-media research in the industrial environments. I appreciate their thoughtful consideration and constant encouragement that enabled me to have successful industry experiences. I am also grateful to all other colleagues in the Networking and Telecommunications Group for their comments and our collaborations. I will cherish the pleasant memory of the excellent environment and friendly atmosphere in the group. Finally, I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my family. Especially I would like to thank my wife and son, Ilhee and Hyunseong, for their love and encouragement so that I can devote myself to the doctoral research. I also appreciate our parents and brothers in Korea for their support.