发送码率控制之PacedSender模块

前面文章分析过，通过反馈报文RR和REMB，可以得到对端期望的发送码率，发送端需要根据这个码率来动态调节自己的发送码率，发送码率的控制主要有两个模块，VieEncoder模块和PacedSender模块，本文章描述PacedSender模块如何调节发送码率。

先看类图：

PacedSender类中有PacketQueue类的对象，我们可以简单的理解为一个队列，别的线程将一张图片编码，打包成RTP后，便会将一个Packet插入到PacketQueue队列中，而PacedSender在另一个线程执行Process(), 根据设定的码率来延时一定的时间，然后从PacketQueue队列中取出Packet，再发送到后面的环节。

插入packet的代码为：

void PacedSender::InsertPacket(RtpPacketSender::Priority priority,
                               uint32_t ssrc,
                               uint16_t sequence_number,
                               int64_t capture_time_ms,
                               size_t bytes,
                               bool retransmission) {
  if (capture_time_ms < 0)
    capture_time_ms = now_ms;

  packets_->Push(paced_sender::Packet(priority, ssrc, sequence_number,
                                      capture_time_ms, now_ms, bytes,
                                      retransmission, packet_counter_++));
}

从类图我们可以看到，PacedSender实现了Module接口，在pace线程中会循环调用Process函数。实际上码率控制就是在里面进行的。我们先看下PacedSender更新目标码率的代码：

void PacedSender::UpdateBitrate(int bitrate_kbps,
                                int max_bitrate_kbps,
                                int min_bitrate_kbps) {
  // Don't set media bitrate here as it may be boosted in order to meet max
  // queue time constraint. Just update max_bitrate_kbps_ and let media_budget_
  // be updated in Process().
  padding_budget_->set_target_rate_kbps(min_bitrate_kbps);
  bitrate_bps_ = 1000 * bitrate_kbps;
  max_bitrate_kbps_ = max_bitrate_kbps;
}

我们看到，最小码率min_bitrate_kbps设置给了padding_budget_，注释里还说在Process()会把最大码率max_bitrate_kbps设置给media_budget_, 那么padding_budget_和media_budget_是干嘛用的呢，其实他们就是分别用来控制码率的下限和上限的，我想了很久也不知道怎么描述清楚他们控制的原理，其实还是比较简单的，我先写出Process()的一些注释吧：

void PacedSender::Process() {
  int64_t now_us = clock_->TimeInMicroseconds();  //当前时间
  CriticalSectionScoped cs(critsect_.get());
  int64_t elapsed_time_ms = (now_us - time_last_update_us_ + 500) / 1000; //自从上一次process过了多久
  time_last_update_us_ = now_us;
  int target_bitrate_kbps = max_bitrate_kbps_;
  // TODO(holmer): Remove the !paused_ check when issue 5307 has been fixed.
  if (!paused_ && elapsed_time_ms > 0) {
    size_t queue_size_bytes = packets_->SizeInBytes();
    if (queue_size_bytes > 0) {  
      // Assuming equal size packets and input/output rate, the average packet
      // has avg_time_left_ms left to get queue_size_bytes out of the queue, if
      // time constraint shall be met. Determine bitrate needed for that.
      //虽然还没有完全明白，但是可以猜测，码率必须有一个下限值，才能让packet队列保持
      //出队入队的平衡，不然码率过小，pakcet队列会越来越大
      packets_->UpdateQueueTime(clock_->TimeInMilliseconds());
      int64_t avg_time_left_ms = std::max<int64_t>(
          1, kMaxQueueLengthMs - packets_->AverageQueueTimeMs());
      int min_bitrate_needed_kbps =
          static_cast<int>(queue_size_bytes * 8 / avg_time_left_ms);  //目标码率不能低于这个码率
      if (min_bitrate_needed_kbps > target_bitrate_kbps)   
        target_bitrate_kbps = min_bitrate_needed_kbps;     
    }

    media_budget_->set_target_rate_kbps(target_bitrate_kbps);

    int64_t delta_time_ms = std::min(kMaxIntervalTimeMs, elapsed_time_ms);  //发送间隔不能小于30ms
    UpdateBytesPerInterval(delta_time_ms);  //增加media_budget_和padding_budget_的bytes_remaining_
  }
  while (!packets_->Empty()) {
    if (media_budget_->bytes_remaining() == 0 && !prober_->IsProbing())  //从这里可以看出，必须要在media_budget_的bytes_remaining_大于0时，才能发送packet
      return;

    // Since we need to release the lock in order to send, we first pop the
    // element from the priority queue but keep it in storage, so that we can
    // reinsert it if send fails.
    const paced_sender::Packet& packet = packets_->BeginPop();  //从优先堆中取出一个packet

    if (SendPacket(packet)) {    //这里只是从优先堆中取出packet,没有从List中取
      // Send succeeded, remove it from the queue.
      packets_->FinalizePop(packet);  //发送成功，才从list中除去packet
      if (prober_->IsProbing())
        return;
    } else {
      // Send failed, put it back into the queue.
      packets_->CancelPop(packet);   //如果失败，要把packet放回list
      return;
    }
  }

  // TODO(holmer): Remove the paused_ check when issue 5307 has been fixed.
  if (paused_ || !packets_->Empty())  //从这里可以看出，只有packets_为空时，才会有后面的padding_budget_的处理
    return;

  size_t padding_needed;
  if (prober_->IsProbing()) {
    padding_needed = prober_->RecommendedPacketSize();
  } else {
    padding_needed = padding_budget_->bytes_remaining();  
  }

  if (padding_needed > 0)
    SendPadding(static_cast<size_t>(padding_needed));  //当队列中已经没有了Packet，为了使码率不低于最小码率，必须填充一些数据发出去
}