# PRD: Adaptive Quality Control (Auto Codec) ## Problem When a user selects "Auto" quality, the system currently just starts at Opus 24k (GOOD) and never changes. There is no runtime adaptation — if the network degrades mid-call, audio breaks up instead of gracefully stepping down to a lower bitrate codec. Conversely, if the network is excellent, the user stays on 24k when they could have studio-quality 64k. The relay already sends `QualityReport` messages with loss % and RTT, and a `QualityAdapter` exists in `call.rs` that classifies network conditions into GOOD/DEGRADED/CATASTROPHIC — but none of this is wired into the Android or desktop engines. ## Solution Wire the existing `QualityAdapter` into both engines so that "Auto" mode continuously monitors network quality and switches codecs mid-call. The full quality range should be used: ``` Excellent network → Studio 64k (best quality) Good network → Opus 24k (default) Degraded network → Opus 6k (lower bitrate, more FEC) Poor network → Codec2 3.2k (vocoder, heavy FEC) Catastrophic → Codec2 1.2k (minimum viable voice) ``` ## Architecture ``` ┌─────────────────────┐ Relay ──────────► │ QualityReport │ loss %, RTT, jitter │ (every ~1s) │ └────────┬────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ QualityAdapter │ classify + hysteresis │ (3-report window) │ └────────┬────────────┘ │ recommend new profile ▼ ┌──────────────┴──────────────┐ │ │ ▼ ▼ ┌────────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ Encoder │ │ Decoder │ │ set_profile() │ │ (auto-switch │ │ + FEC update │ │ already works)│ └────────────────┘ └────────────────┘ ``` ## Existing Infrastructure ### What already exists (in `crates/wzp-client/src/call.rs`) 1. **`QualityAdapter`** (lines 97-196): - Sliding window of `QualityReport` messages - `classify()`: loss > 15% or RTT > 200ms → CATASTROPHIC, loss > 5% or RTT > 100ms → DEGRADED, else → GOOD - `should_switch()`: hysteresis — requires 3 consecutive reports recommending the same profile before switching - Prevents oscillation between profiles 2. **`QualityReport`** (in `wzp-proto/src/packet.rs`): - Sent by relay piggy-backed on media packets - Fields: `loss_pct` (u8, 0-255 scaled), `rtt_4ms` (u8, RTT in 4ms units), `jitter_ms`, `bitrate_cap_kbps` 3. **`CallEncoder::set_profile()`** / **`CallDecoder` auto-switch**: - Encoder can switch codec mid-stream - Decoder already auto-detects incoming codec from packet headers ### What's been implemented since PRD was written 1. **QualityReport ingestion** — ~~neither Android engine nor desktop engine reads quality reports from the relay~~ **Done**: both Android (`crates/wzp-android/src/engine.rs`) and desktop (`desktop/src-tauri/src/engine.rs`) recv tasks ingest quality reports and feed `AdaptiveQualityController` 2. **Profile switch loop** — ~~no periodic check~~ **Done**: `pending_profile` AtomicU8 bridges recv→send task in both engines; send task applies profile switch at frame boundary 3. **Notification to UI** — ~~when quality changes, the UI should show the current active codec~~ **Done**: `tx_codec`/`rx_codec` in desktop `EngineStatus`; `currentCodec`/`peerCodec` in Android `CallStats` ### What's still missing 1. **Upward adaptation** — `QualityAdapter` only classifies into 3 tiers (GOOD/DEGRADED/CATASTROPHIC). Needs extension to recommend studio tiers when conditions are excellent (loss < 1%, RTT < 50ms). See Phase 2 below. 2. **Relay QualityDirective handling** — relay broadcasts coordinated quality directives but neither engine processes them (signals are silently discarded). See PRD-coordinated-codec.md for details. ## Requirements ### Phase 1: Basic Adaptive (3-tier) **Both Android and Desktop:** 1. **Ingest QualityReports**: In the recv loop, extract `quality_report` from incoming `MediaPacket`s when present. Feed to `QualityAdapter`. 2. **Periodic quality check**: Every 1 second (or on each QualityReport), call `adapter.should_switch(¤t_profile)`. If it returns `Some(new_profile)`: - Switch the encoder: `encoder.set_profile(new_profile)` - Update FEC encoder: `fec_enc = create_encoder(&new_profile)` - Update frame size if changed (e.g., 20ms → 40ms) - Log the switch 3. **Frame size adaptation on switch**: When switching from 20ms to 40ms frames (or vice versa): - Android: update `frame_samples` variable, resize `capture_buf` - Desktop: same — the send loop reads `frame_samples` dynamically 4. **UI indicator**: Show current active codec in the call screen stats line. - Android: add to `CallStats` and display in stats text - Desktop: add to `get_status` response and display in stats div 5. **Only in Auto mode**: Adaptive switching should only happen when the user selected "Auto". If they manually selected a profile, respect their choice. ### Phase 2: Extended Range (5-tier) Extend `QualityAdapter::classify()` to use the full codec range: | Condition | Profile | Codec | |-----------|---------|-------| | loss < 1% AND RTT < 30ms | STUDIO_64K | Opus 64k | | loss < 1% AND RTT < 50ms | STUDIO_48K | Opus 48k | | loss < 2% AND RTT < 80ms | STUDIO_32K | Opus 32k | | loss < 5% AND RTT < 100ms | GOOD | Opus 24k | | loss < 15% AND RTT < 200ms | DEGRADED | Opus 6k | | loss >= 15% OR RTT >= 200ms | CATASTROPHIC | Codec2 1.2k | With hysteresis: - **Downgrade**: 3 consecutive reports (fast reaction to degradation) - **Upgrade**: 5 consecutive reports (slow, cautious improvement) - **Studio upgrade**: 10 consecutive reports (very conservative — avoid bouncing to 64k on brief good patches) ### Phase 3: Bandwidth Probing Rather than relying solely on loss/RTT: 1. Start at GOOD 2. After 10 seconds of stable call, probe upward by switching to STUDIO_32K 3. If no quality degradation after 5 seconds, probe to STUDIO_48K 4. If degradation detected, immediately fall back 5. This discovers the true available bandwidth rather than guessing from loss stats ## Implementation Plan ### Android (`crates/wzp-android/src/engine.rs`) ```rust // In the recv loop, after decoding: if let Some(ref qr) = pkt.quality_report { quality_adapter.ingest(qr); } // Periodic check (every 50 frames ≈ 1 second): if auto_profile && frames_decoded % 50 == 0 { if let Some(new_profile) = quality_adapter.should_switch(¤t_profile) { info!(from = ?current_profile.codec, to = ?new_profile.codec, "auto: switching quality"); let _ = encoder_ref.lock().set_profile(new_profile); fec_enc_ref.lock() = create_encoder(&new_profile); current_profile = new_profile; frame_samples = frame_samples_for(&new_profile); // Resize capture buffer if needed } } ``` **Challenge**: The encoder is in the send task and the quality reports arrive in the recv task. Need shared state (AtomicU8 for profile index, or a channel). **Recommended approach**: Use an `AtomicU8` that the recv task writes and the send task reads: ```rust let pending_profile = Arc::new(AtomicU8::new(0xFF)); // 0xFF = no change // Recv task: when adapter recommends switch pending_profile.store(new_profile_index, Ordering::Release); // Send task: check at frame boundary let p = pending_profile.swap(0xFF, Ordering::Acquire); if p != 0xFF { /* apply switch */ } ``` ### Desktop (`desktop/src-tauri/src/engine.rs`) Same pattern. The desktop engine already has separate send/recv tasks with shared atomics for mic_muted, etc. Add a `pending_profile: Arc` following the same pattern. ### Desktop CLI (`crates/wzp-client/src/call.rs`) The `CallEncoder` already has `set_profile()`. The `CallDecoder` already auto-switches. Just need to: 1. Add `QualityAdapter` to `CallDecoder` 2. Feed quality reports in `ingest()` 3. Check `should_switch()` in `decode_next()` 4. Emit the recommendation via a callback or return value ## Testing 1. **Local test with tc/netem**: Use Linux traffic control to simulate loss/latency: ```bash # Simulate 10% loss, 150ms RTT tc qdisc add dev lo root netem loss 10% delay 75ms # Run 2 clients in auto mode, verify they switch to DEGRADED ``` 2. **CLI test**: Run `wzp-client --profile auto` between two instances with simulated network conditions 3. **Relay quality reports**: Verify the relay actually sends QualityReport messages. If it doesn't yet, that needs to be implemented first (check relay code). ## Open Questions 1. **Does the relay currently send QualityReports?** If not, Phase 1 is blocked until the relay implements per-client loss/RTT tracking and report generation. The relay sees all packets and can compute loss % per sender. 2. **Codec2 3.2k placement**: Should auto mode use Codec2 3.2k between DEGRADED and CATASTROPHIC? It's 20ms frames (lower latency than Opus 6k's 40ms) but speech-only quality. 3. **Cross-client adaptation**: If client A is on GOOD and client B auto-adapts to CATASTROPHIC, client A still sends Opus 24k. Client B can decode it fine (auto-switch on recv). But should A also be told to lower quality to save B's bandwidth? This requires signaling between clients. ## Milestones | Phase | Scope | Effort | Dependency | |-------|-------|--------|------------| | 0 | Verify relay sends QualityReports | 0.5 day | None | | 1a | Wire QualityAdapter in Android engine | 1 day | Phase 0 | | 1b | Wire QualityAdapter in desktop engine | 1 day | Phase 0 | | 1c | UI indicator (current codec) | 0.5 day | Phase 1a/1b | | 2 | Extended 5-tier classification | 0.5 day | Phase 1 | | 3 | Bandwidth probing | 2 days | Phase 2 |